The Proposal
by Lunaandtwilight07
Summary: Regina Mills is an American citizen working as a high ranking scientist at a London laboratory. After learning she is about to be deported back to America because she violated the terms of her work visa, she persuades her assistant, Robin Locksley, to marry her.
1. The Journey

**Hey guys! Here's chapter one of my OQMovieWeek fic based on the proposal. **

**This story is set in England, but I'm not going along with the actual law from this country as they are a little different and probably wouldn't work with this premise. So I decided to stick to a similar type of situation **as** the one in the film. **

**I hope you enjoy it, and this chapter hasn't been proofread yet so if you come across any mistakes, just ignore them. Oops. **

* * *

Regina couldn't actually believe that this was what her life had come to, only the week before she'd had a stable job and a prominent future. Now though everything was up in the air like caps on graduation day and although she might seem perfectly calm to others, on the inside she was freaking out, her whole life was about to be destroyed and the only thing she could possibly do about it was to sit and wait for it to happen.

There are probably better places to have a panic attack than in the bathroom of a crowded train making its way out of London towards up north, as he calls it. The man her entire future is relying on. She'd been living in England for five years and still had yet to venture out of London and its surrounding area, so up north sounded rather daunting, to say the least.

This whole thing had been her own fault really, they had told her not to leave the country but she did it anyway, her father had been taken ill and she'd returned to America for a couple of weeks, now it seems as though she'll be having to go back there on a more permanent basis. Her application for her visa had been denied and if she didn't do something soon, something which was probably less than legal, she was going to be deported. She knew that her plan had maybe been a little bit rash, but she'd had no other choice, it had to be done.

There was a loud pounding in her head, the whole situation was really getting to her and she couldn't stop thinking about all the possible outcomes. She liked it here and she loved her job, she knew that she wouldn't find a better one in the US, not with the salary she was currently on. She tried to remind herself that she'd had no other option and although it may have been drastic, there wasn't anything else she could have done.

The banging in her head seemed to be getting louder and louder the more she thought about her unstable future. A loud shout broke her from her thoughts and she realised that the pounding may not have been as in her head as she first thought. Someone was banging on the door to the tiny cramped toilet and had probably been waiting quite a while, she had no idea how long she had been inside, but being sat next to him in a verging on awkward silence was something she'd just had to escape from.

With a groan, she glanced in the mirror one last time before sliding the lock on and coming face to face with an angry looking woman holding a screaming child. "Did you not hear the knocking."

"I was using the…" before she could even finish her sentence the woman was barging past her into the bathroom, nudging her out of the way and slamming the door closed. Regina blinked in shock, trying to pull herself together, she glanced down the walkway of the train which was seemingly fuller than it had been before she left her seat. His eyes were on her and there was a small smirk playing on his face, one which earnt him a scowl in return as she tried to squish past people to return to her seat.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," she huffed as she dropped down beside him, noticing that there was a sickeningly loved-up couple now sitting at the other side of the table to them. "I see we have company, does this train not just go straight there, couldn't we have caught a flight or something? What about first class?"

"You want to fly when the train only takes a couple of hours? Considering your profession, I'd say you were rather oblivious to the climate."

"Shut it. I hate public transport."

"I can tell and it's hilarious, I really wish I'd opted for the coach instead of the train it would have been even better."

"Robin," she groaned, she knew he was going to carry on teasing her relentlessly, he had the leverage and the ball was well and truly in his court, she was relying on him.

It was his fault she was on this train in the first place, it had all been a downward spiral since she'd talked to her bosses a few days ago and they'd told her about what was going to happen. Then Robin, her secretary, had come into the meeting room to deliver her a message and she'd had a momentary blip and told her bosses that they were engaged. The look on his face had been one she would never forget, he had stared at her in absolute shock but managed to recover well in order to, rather reluctantly, go along with her plan.

After realising that there was no other option but to go with it, mainly because the person the big bosses had in mind to take Regina's job should she be forced to leave hated Robin's guts and would probably have him fired, they'd had to go to the immigration office and talk to people there. They knew that it was going to be difficult and there would be many tests set to trip them up along the way, but she wanted to stay and Robin wanted to keep his job so they had no other option.

This trip though had come as a surprise, Robin had informed the immigration officer that he would be returning home to celebrate his grandfather's ninetieth birthday and naturally the man had assumed Regina would be going along, leaving her no other option but to comply.

"Where even are we?"

"We're about an hour away."

"Still? I feel like I have been trapped in here for hours."

"Regina its barely even been an hour," he sighed, leaning against the window and looking out, "I cannot believe you're even coming up here with me."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"We needed it to seem believable, what person doesn't go with their significant other to a family occasion?"

"Okay baby, whatever you say," he chuckled as he unscrewed the cap of his lemonade and took a drink.

"Now that's just weird, baby? Really?"

"You're going to have to get used to that, we're going to really have to work on how we act around my family, especially you."

"What does that mean, especially me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. She wasn't the only one having to pretend, so why was he making out as though she was going to have to put in more work than he was? She could fake being in a relationship, surely it couldn't be that hard to do.

"It means, you're not really the warmest of people," Robin shrugged, "sometimes you can be a little standoffish and if I'm being honest, its probably what scares people away."

"Excuse me? Standoffish?"

"That's what you're like with literally everyone at work."

"That's because I'm their boss and I have to keep absolute authority, otherwise they would get too comfortable and lacklustre. It's important to keep people on their toes."

"Keep people hating you more like."

At that, she went quite and opted to look at her hands in contemplation, did her employees really hate her that much? She knew that she probably wasn't their favourite person in the world, but hate was a strong word and she couldn't say that she had ever really used it to describe the way she felt about anyone, not since her argument with Constance Merriweather in college, if people think that Regina is a stuck-up cow, they ought to meet that bitch.

Robin was technically one of the workers, although he was on the other side of the glass doors and had his desk inside her office, he was still one of the crew and she was an outsider. To him, she was probably just another bossy britches with her head up her own ass. "I think I might go stretch my legs a little, walk through the train."

"Regina…"

"I need to find the drinks cart anyway because I…"

"I got your coffee, caramel latte with one sweetener," he stated, gesturing to the cup on the table that she hadn't even noticed. She looked at him before glancing back at the coffee and sitting back in her seat dejectedly, she was using the drinks cart as an excuse to get away from the awkwardness, but it seemed she had him trained too well for her to gain any type of advantage.

"Well, you didn't have to do that."

"Do you want to talk about what's in that huge file that I saw you shove into your bag back at the office."

"This is a book of some of the questions we might be asked," she stated, reaching down into her bag and pulling it out to hand to him. He began flipping through it, chuckling at some of them before handing it back to her.

"Well the good news is that I know all the answers to these questions for you, but you're going to have to learn them about me too."

"You know all the answers?"

"Yes."

"Really?" she rose an eyebrow, she couldn't believe that, there were rows and rows of questions and he couldn't possibly know the answer to them all. "Okay then, do I have any allergies?"

"Bee stings, I have to stab you in the leg with your EpiPen if one stings you. You're also allergic to most humans, but unfortunately for that one, I have no cure."

"Very funny," she offered him up a fake smile before continuing to look at the questions, she wanted to find one that might trick him out and make him answer wrong. "What is my full name?"

"Regina Maria Mills."

"Okay…"

"But usually people in the office don't bother with your full name, they just call you the Evil Queen."

"Lovely, are you purposely setting out to make this difficult because I really want to spill my nice caramel latte all over you right now."

"Okay okay, I'll go easy on you," he grinned, nudging her playfully, only to receive a glare in return.

"I think we're done with these questions now. Are we there yet? I feel like the oxygen on this train is running low."

"As a scientist, I think you know that's probably not the case."

"As a scientist I think I can tell you that anything is possible," she was so done with this already, she didn't think she would be able to stand spending an entire week with him, not to mention they were going to spending most of their time at his parents' house, she was not only going to have to be with Robin, but his family as well and as he pointed out in a less than kind way, she wasn't a people person. Animals she could deal with, but people were a whole different story.

"Ask me another one."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Regina, come on, ask me, I want to see if I know you as well as I think I do."

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, reluctantly reopening the book and trying to find a really hard one. She grinned when she saw it and turned to him with a triumphant smile, she knew that there was no way he knew the answer to this question. "Do I have any tattoos?"

"Tattoos," he tapped his fingers against the table as he looked at her, seemingly mulling it over in his head, it was almost as though he was assessing her, trying to work out what she was thinking from the look on her face, but there was no way she was giving this one away and she had a feeling that he was going to get the answer wrong. "I'm going to say yes."

"What?" she groaned, her shoulder slumping, she had been so sure that he would answer wrong, "why do you think that I have tattoos?"

"Do you?"

"One."

"Well, I never would have guessed that."

"You just did."

"Yeah, but you gave that away, before I wouldn't have thought that you had tattoos, what is it?"

"It's a feather," she stated, picking up her coffee and taking a sip, it wasn't exactly warm but it did take her mind off the conversation, she wanted to move onto another topic.

"And where is this mysterious feather?"

"Ah, that would be telling."

"Come on Regina, they might ask and if I don't know where it is that would look suspicious, you have to tell me for your own good."

"Nope," she shook her head, she highly doubted they would ask that question anyway, it wasn't as important as some of the others, "we are done with this conversation." She quipped handing the book over to him.

"Do you want me to test you and see if you know the some of the answers about me?" he asked as he placed it down on the table.

Regina glanced at him before looking straight ahead and unfortunately being met with the sight of the young couple with their tongues in one another's mouths. She wrinkled her nose and dipped her hand back into her bag to find her phone, "you already said that I wouldn't know the answers, so what's the point."

"I thought you might want to get to know the answers, after all, you're going to need them."

She thought about it for a moment before rolling her eyes and nodding at him, "fine, alright." She wasn't looking forward to this because she was going to find out just how neglectful of a boss she had been over the years, Robin had been her assistant for two years and although she knew some things about him, she definitely didn't know him on the level that he knew her and that was worrying.

"Okay, I'll start with an easy one. What is my full name?"

Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth as she looked around and stared out of the window for a moment, watching as the landscape whizzed by, all she could see were green field and a few dwellings, it seemed like forever since she had seen the countryside, not since she'd moved to London that was for sure. She was procrastinating because she didn't know the answer to his question, if he had a middle name she didn't know it. "Robin Locksley?"

"Robin Michael Locksley. Do I have any siblings?"

"Yes, you have two brothers and a sister," she grinned, smirking at him feeling proud of herself that she had managed to get one right.

"Correct, but I did tell you that about an hour ago, so I'm not sure that counts."

"It does count!" Regina protested, how dare he discredit her achievement, even if he did have a point. "I can even tell you their names, Emma, Graham and…" blank, her mind had gone blank, what on earth was his other brother called? Like he said it had only been an hour ago since he told her, she couldn't have forgotten already. He had a smug smirk on his face and it was evident that he thought he'd won, she just wished that the final name would come to her.

"You're missing one."

"Don't you think I don't know that?" she snapped, sitting back in her chair and racking her brain, going over name after name to try and work it out. She glanced up at the luggage rack and sighed, like that was going to give her any indication as to his brother's name. Graham and… Emma, Graham and "David! Your other brother is David."

"Okay, I'll give you that one," he chuckled, "but you still have a lot to learn."

Regina nodded took a sip of her drink, at least for now she could be smug in her small victory, but she had a feeling that the hardest part was still to come.

* * *

When the train finally pulled to a stop at the station they were vacating at Regina's stomach plummeted, shed thought that she wanted it, that she couldn't wait to get off the damned thing, but now she had to face the reality that she was about to meet Robin's family and she had no idea how they were going to take to her or what they were going to say. After all their engagement had come completely out of nowhere.

She stood from her seat and had to almost fight to get her bag down from the rack above, she was too short, even in the heels she was wearing, to get the bag down at the correct angle without it falling on top of her. Robin wasn't any help, he was just chuckling to himself as he grabbed his own bag and got off the train without her. She stared after him for a second and scoffed at the audacity.

The man from the loved-up couple stood from his chair and grabbed her bag for her, "there you are."

"I could have done it myself," she huffed, "also, you might want to cut down on the amount of PDA, its positively nauseating." With that, she made her way off the train and looked around trying to gain her bearings. It was a tiny train station, nothing like King's Cross where they had departed from, there were none of the modern glass ceilings, instead, it was pretty open and she had absolutely no clue where Robin had gone.

She looked around for a moment and realised that there were tracks either side of her and she was on a platform located in the middle of them, there weren't any escalators or bridges so she didn't know how she was supposed to get to the other side where she assumed the exit would be located. She pouted and leant against her Louis Vuitton luggage, her eyes scanning for any sign of her travelling partner. She knew that he'd done this on purpose to make her look like a fool.

"What are you doing over there?" Robin shouted across the tracks as he came into view with a smug smile on his face. She knew his game and she wasn't playing along.

"You left me you idiot! Now you're going to have to come back and get me," she huffed, folding her arms over her chest as she stared him out.

"Pretty sure you can work out how to get here on your own, it's not that hard."

"Robin, this isn't funny, it's childish."

"You'll work it out," he grinned, "meet you out front," he quipped before walking through some doors, she watched as he fed his ticket through the gate and disappeared from sight. He'd left her. The arsehole had actually left her standing on the platform with virtually no clue about how she was supposed to get over to him, there must be something she was missing, some kind of walkway.

She turned on her heel and it was then that she spotted the painfully obvious set of stairs that clearly led to an underground tunnel that led to the other side and she suddenly felt rather silly. Yet again she looked like a fool and had fallen directly into his trickery. "Great, I just know you are going to make this a living nightmare," she mumbled under her breath as she made her way towards the stairs. She was tempted to just stand on the platform and make him wait, but she didn't want to look any more stupid than she already felt.

Once she was above ground again at the other side of the tracks, she fed her ticket through the machine and moved through the old building and out into the town. There were historical buildings all around and on the outside, the train station looked much more extravagant than it did on the inside, there were six large columns that held up the front of the building and a clock sat in the centre above them.

From there it looked out onto a large square with a bronze cast sculpture in the centre. Children were running around as their parents sat on benches talking and Regina couldn't help but wonder why they weren't in the park instead. Shaking her head, she finally spotted Robin stood with two older women at the other side of the square. Rolling her eyes, she took a deep breath before pulling her luggage with her and walking confidently towards them.

She could do this, she was a strong independent… "Oh my god!" all of a sudden she was drenched from head to toe with freezing cold water and came to the unfortunate realisation that what she had initially thought was a plain old square, was actually also a water feature with fountains that shot out powerful jets, enough to have her soaked to the bone. Now she realised why the kids were so excited to be playing in a square.

Regina reluctantly peered around and noticed that Robin and his mother and the other woman who was most likely his grandmother, were all staring at her. Great, just great.

She made her way closer and forced a smile onto her face as she pushed a wet strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't know there were little fountains," she stated through gritted teeth as she tried her hardest not to smack Robin as he chuckled at her expense.

"Sorry, I didn't think to tell you about them, I didn't expect that to happen," he quipped, she could tell that he thought it was hilarious, she certainly didn't. "Well, mother this is Regina Mills, my slightly damp girlfriend."

She rose a single unimpressed eyebrow at him before the older woman's hands were either side of her face squishing it slightly, "Regina dear! I feel as though we've been waiting a lifetime for Robin to bring someone home. He's told us so much about you, although your description didn't do her justice, Robin! She is simply stunning, my goodness, it's so good to finally meet you, welcome to the family!" With that Caroline wrapped her arms around Regina and the younger woman just stood there in shock, her eyes widening somewhat as she reluctantly hugged her back.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs Locksley," Regina stated as they pulled back from the hug and she offered her an awkward smile. Almost as soon as she was out of his mother's hug the other woman decided that she wanted one also and Regina had no choice but to go along with it.

"Robin, she seems much nicer than you suggested. Nothing at all like an evil queen."

Regina's eyes flicked to Robin as she stared at him, he'd told them about that? He was so dead. "Oh well, Robin does like to exaggerate."

"Better watch out for her mood swings grandma, she'll be all loving one minute and the next she'll turn on you, like a feral cat."

"Nice to know you think so highly of me."

"You know I do sweetie."

She swallowed down her distaste for the nickname and looked at the two women, who seemed to be analysing every soaking wet inch of her. "I would really love to get out of these wet clothes. Would we be able to check into the hotel?" She asked expectantly.

"Oh, we cancelled your reservations! You're family, you should stay with us." Regina's eyes widened and she noticed that Robin's did also, clearly, he didn't know about this development, she wasn't sure if she should be happy that they'd caught him out, or freaking out about it.

"That sounds lovely."

"Wonderful! Let's get you in the car and we can get on our way." The tall blonde clapped as she turned and they headed towards an old Land Rover covered in thick mud.

"You laugh at me one more time and I'll hurt you," she murmured to Robin as they both followed behind his mother.

"Aww come on honey bunny, it was a little funny," he grinned, his arm wrapping around her shoulder.

"Stop it," she swatted at his hand.

"You really are like a feral cat," Robin laughed as he tossed his case in the back of his mother's car.

"Yeah, well you better keep a good distance so you don't get scratched then." She carefully placed her soggy luggage next to his and climbed into the back seat beside him as his relatives sat in the front. "How long is it going to take us to get where we're going?" she asked under her voice, not wanting his mother to overhear.

"Its probably around a forty-five-minute drive."

Regina closed her eyes and tried not to freak out, she was tired and soaking wet and quite frankly she couldn't wait to be able to just flop down on a bed and sleep, even if it was only four o'clock in the afternoon. She was ready for the whole trip to be over and it really hadn't even started yet.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, tune in tomorrow for another chapter! Don't be afraid to let me know your thoughts, I love hearing them. ;) **


	2. Turn Off the Lights

**Hey! Thanks for your reviews! Here's the second chapter, I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

After what seemed like forever and a none stop stream of conversation between the three Locksleys, they finally pulled down a dirt track and Regina stared at it in dismay. They were literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but fields and trees, directly on the edge of the moorland. This was the definition of living in the countryside and she was ninety-nine percent sure that she wouldn't be getting any phone single for her entire stay.

"This is where you live?" she asked as the car came to stop in front of what she could only describe as a mansion sitting in the middle of nowhere. The house was huge, there were even pillars in front of the large oak doors; three stories of stone and windows towered above them as ivy consumed parts of the building, however, the plant was clearly maintained as it was trimmed to make the house look well kept and absolutely beautiful. She had never seen anything so amazing.

"Yes dear," Caroline quipped as she cut the engine of the car which certainly did not match the house, Regina had been expecting a small cottage, so what she saw in front of her was rather a large shock.

"You didn't tell me you were rich," she whispered to Robin as they got out of the car, "why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm not rich, my parents are," he shrugged.

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"Not really."

"Robin…"

"Is that my Grandson?"

"Hey! Grandad," Robin grinned, leaving Regina standing awkwardly next to the car as he embraced the old man who was leaning on a cane on the top step.

"Would you like the tour Regina?" his mother asked with a kind smile, Regina simply nodded in return and grabbed her case from the car before following her, for some reason it felt like her first day at boarding school all over again. She remembered all too well the feeling of walking into that building with just her luggage and feeling so scared that she thought she might throw up, although then it was also accompanied by the worry that she was only there because her parents didn't want her. She swallowed down that memory and kept her head up. "Dad, this is Regina, Robin's girlfriend."

"Robin's what?" the old man looked her up and down with a critical eye and she just froze up, it was as though her voice disappeared and she had forgotten to act around people. He looked just like Robin but the older model, the way he looked at her made her feel like Robin had told him something that he hadn't relayed to his mother and grandmother.

"She's my girlfriend."

"I thought she was your boss."

"She's that too," Robin nodded, running a hand through his hair awkwardly.

"Oh, so are bosses allowed to date their employees then? I didn't know that."

"Yeah well, we're dating so, let's hope so."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Regina quipped, holding her hand out for him to shake. He eyed it curiously before looking back to Robin.

"Well, I suppose we have a lot to talk about, don't we Robin."

"Yes," the younger man sighed and Regina felt nervousness pool in the pit of her stomach. Why hadn't he shook her hand? She thought that was common practice and now she felt like a stupid idiot.

"Come dear, I'll show you around the house," Caroline offered her a reassuring smile before leading her inside.

* * *

If the house looked big on the outside, on the inside it was virtually the Tardis itself; the ceilings were high and unlike the modern spacious apartment Regina lived in back in London this reminded her of a Victorian country house, that was exactly what it was really. Everything about it screamed antique, but it was amazing and she was extremely impressed.

She was still a little damp from the fountain incident so Caroline had shown her to the room she would be staying in, inside this particular room the walls were painted a powder blue and the four-poster bed in the middle was covered with silky sheets that were just screaming at her to slide into them and fall asleep. There were large windows that looked out upon the view and the floor was covered by a plush carpet that felt amazing under her bare feet.

"So, this is it, I hope you like it."

"It's wonderful, thank you for allowing me to stay here."

"Nonsense! As I said, you are family now. So, the bathroom is just across the hall, holler if you need anything. Towels should be in that cupboard there, I suppose I'll leave you to it."

Regina nodded at her and watched as she bowed out of the room, closing the door behind her. She let out a breath she hadn't even realised she was holding and flopped down on the bed, she could see directly out of the window and was able to stare out at the rolling hills which surrounded them. Her eyes fluttered closed as she tried to clear her mind, she could do this, she had to keep telling herself that.

What she needed at that moment was a nice hot shower to wash all the morning's travel away, maybe then she might feel fresher. She still had to meet Robin's father and if meeting his grandfather had anything to go by, it wasn't going to go too well, though for the life of her she couldn't work out what it was that she'd done wrong.

She headed over to the closest and took out a towel so that she'd be able to take a shower, quickly she scurried across the corridor and into the bathroom. It wasn't what she had expected, there were modem tiles and a huge glass-walled shower, it was luxurious and she was really looking forward to that warm shower.

Once she was thoroughly warmed through, she turned off the water and wrapped the towel around her, only to realise that it wasn't actually a proper bath towel and didn't fully cover her body. She frowned at it before awkwardly opening some of the cupboards, she felt like she was intruding, but what other option did she have? She needed to get back to the room and someone might see her, that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

Regina quite quickly came to realise that she wasn't going to find a towel in the bathroom cupboards, they were clearly all in the bedroom. With a groan she tried to tighten the towel before moving closer to the door, she opened it and peeked around to see if anyone was out there. When she was sure that the coast was clear she grabbed her clothes and scurried from the bathroom and back into the guest room Caroline had set up for her.

She was so focused on making sure that no one saw her on the landing that she didn't entertain the notion that someone might be inside the room itself. She closed the door behind her and leant against it, only to find Robin laid out on the bed staring at her.

"You do know that's a hand towel, right?"

"I'm well aware thank you," she huffed, trying to cover her body, knowing her arse would be on full show should she move, the towel was only just covering her private areas.

"Doesn't really help with the drying process all that much, I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind if you used a regular sized towel if you're worried about her having to do laundry."

"I picked up the wrong one by mistake and you obviously know that. Who uses a hand towel to dry themselves by choice, it's a ludicrous notion?"

"I can't believe you even came out of the bathroom like that, what if my elderly grandfather caught an eyeful, he'd have had a heart attack."

"Would you just shut up. What are you even doing in my room?"

"Don't you mean our room honey?" he grinned, with a single eyebrow raised.

She stared at him with a less than impressed expression on her face, he couldn't really be serious, could he? "Not a chance."

"If you want to make this look…"

"Not a chance! There is no way I am sharing a room with you Robin, it's not happening, no way, nope, not happening, no."

"Really, Regina, what young couple chooses to sleep in separate rooms, my mother is fine with it, in fact, she was quite insistent."

"We'll tell her that I'm a devout Christian and don't believe in sex before marriage! There is no way I am sharing a bed with you, it isn't happening."

"Well it is, trust me, if I thought we could get out of it with a feasible excuse then I would have been the first to do it… also, can you cover up please, you're distracting me a little from my train of thought."

"Stop looking at me then!" Regina scoffed, holding her towel closer to her, she'd become so caught up in the argument about the room situation that she had almost forgotten about her modesty. "Why are you even looking at me?"

"It's a little hard to ignore when you're standing there practically naked and dripping wet."

"Disgusting," she huffed, only to have a blanket be thrown directly at her. Her reactions kicked in and she dropped her towel so she could catch the offending item, un-intentionally flashing Robin in the process. She felt her cheeks heat up as she hurried to wrap the blanket around her and stared at him.

"Nice tattoo," he grinned and she almost growled at him in return.

"Get out so I can get changed."

"Fine, but you're going to have to get used to the idea that we are sharing a room."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she watched him stand from the bed and move over to the door before leaving her alone. A retaliation had been on the top of her tongue but she couldn't get the words out, embarrassment and worry flooded through her veins. It wasn't as though she was conscious about her body, she was just awkward about things like that and she really wasn't looking forward to sharing a room with him. She had a feeling that it was going to go badly.

* * *

After regaining her composure and putting on some clothes, a dark tight blue dress with a conservative neckline, she had to gather the courage to actually leave the room, there was no way she could just stay there all day whilst his family were downstairs, it would be incredibly rude. She just felt awkward, like she was an intruder, even though his mother had made out that it was the opposite, she still sensed that there was hesitation from his family. Especially his grandfather.

With one last glance in the mirror, she threw all caution to the wind and opened the door, forcing herself to go down the stairs before she bottled it and turned back. There was chatter coming from the sitting room and she peeped around the doorway, seeing that there were people she hadn't yet met crowded around all clearly wanting to talk to Robin.

With a flick of her short curls, she summoned the air of confidence she needed and swanned into the room as though she owned it, despite the nervousness bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Her "Robin."

"Hey you," he grinned, for a moment it caught her off guard because that looked so genuine and the way he was staring at her was scarily realistic.

She returned the smile, when she reached him he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She had to force herself not to let her eyes widen at the feeling. "Are you going to introduce me?" she asked, looking at the two men stood in front of them, both of whom were staring at her.

"Of course, yes. Regina, these are my brothers…"

"Graham and David," she interrupted.

"Exactly," he nodded, gesturing to which one was which, "guys, this is Regina, she's…"

"The massive pain in your arse! Hey, nice to meet you, we've heard so much about you," the taller of the two stated.

Regina rose an eyebrow at him, she had to admit she hadn't been expecting that reaction.

"David," the other scoffed, "don't mind my brother, he's an arse most of the time. Lovely to meet you, Regina. Its been a long while since Robin has brought anyone home."

"You mean never, don't you?" David chuckled, "I don't think I have ever once met one of Robin's girlfriends, apart from Marian."

"Yeah, but Marian was different."

"I guess you're right about that one, she always was his…"

"Guys, enough about Marian, we're not talking about her right now. You're meeting Regina."

"Right yeah. So, Regina, what are your intentions with our brother?" David asked.

She realised that the blue eyes ran in the family, not only that, but they all seemingly had the same sense of humour. David's face was cleanly shaved whereas Graham had stubble similar to Robin's, she knew that he was the younger of the three and could tell just from looking at him that he was a heartbreaker. "Well, I should have thought they were pretty obvious."

"Aside from sex though, what are you planning to do with him."

"I suppose…"

"Will you be making an honest man of him Regina?" he probed and god this man was like his brother, just as annoying if not even more so, at least Robin's annoying tendencies were just about tolerable. Graham just stood there smirking at her, his eyes smouldering in a way she didn't exactly think was appropriate considering that Robin was stood right there.

"Well…"

"Because I think you need to drag his ass down the aisle."

"If you would let me get a word in edgeways maybe I would be able to tell you that…"

"We're getting married!" Robin interrupted and all of a sudden, the whole room went silent, apparently, he'd said it a little louder than he had originally been planning on. She glanced at him and noticed that whilst she had been focusing on answering David, she hadn't been watching Robin, clearly, he'd been getting worked up by his brother's pestering.

"Robin! What did you just say?" his mother asked, hurrying over to them with a tray of snacks in her hands. She looked from Robin back to Regina in disbelief.

Regina thought that she might just throw up, it wasn't supposed to go that way.

"I said we're getting married. I asked Regina to marry me and she said yes, so, yeah."

Silence. The room was absolutely silent and she just wanted to run, run as fast as she could and give up.

"Well congratulations!" his mother beamed, placing the tray down and wrapping her arms around Regina for the second time that day. "Isn't this just wonderful news. George, did you hear they're getting married," she hummed turning to look at someone behind them.

Regina realised that she hadn't even met his father yet, he was looking at them from where he was stood by the fireplace, "yes, wonderful. I would have liked to meet Regina first before you told me you were marrying her, but yes, congratulations son. The first one of our children to get married."

"Dad, David got married…"

"He was sixteen, that doesn't count. Plus, how long did that marriage last? I know this one will last longer than that shambles," he scoffed.

Regina glanced at the man who had been teasing her a few moments earlier as a blush tinted his cheeks and she couldn't help the spiteful smirk that made its way onto her face, the way she saw it his father's words were karma for making her feel uncomfortable. There was also a part of her that was panicking, this was fake and would certainly not be lasting longer than it took for her visa to safely be registered.

"Pretty sure it still counts but whatever," David murmured under his breath, she really had to stop herself from snickering.

"Well you're divorced now, so it doesn't really."

"I still got married."

"Right, okay, but I choose to forget about that mistake," the older man quipped before moving closer to them. "Well then, seems we have a lot to talk about," he chuckled, heading into the kitchen and gesturing for Robin and Regina to follow him, leaving David grumbling at Graham's continuation of their father's teasing.

* * *

All in all, Regina felt that the initial meeting of Robin's family went relatively well, she felt that most of them liked her, although she knew David wasn't convinced and she hadn't really seen Robin's grandfather much to see what he thought. Luckily it had been buffet style snacks and not a sit-down dinner, she was alright as long as she was able to move around and talk to different people.

The room had been packed and it wasn't even the proper party, there had been aunts and uncles, cousins and a whole array of different family members in attendance. She hadn't known there would be that many if she had she might have opted for staying in her room after all. Yet she couldn't complain, it had gone well and that was something she was thankful for.

She retired to the room before Robin, excusing herself and retreating to the private sanctuary. She had no idea how the sleeping arrangements were going to go, but she was sure that they'd work it out.

By the time Robin appeared she was ready for bed and situated slap bang in the middle of it, he scoffed at her before grabbing some blankets and the pillow that she had been leaning against causing her to drop down a little on the bed. "I take it you're sleeping in the bed then?"

"I have a bad back."

"Of course, you do," he rolled his eyes as he laid the cushion on the plush rug at the bottom of the bed.

"Why aren't you sleeping on the chaise long?"

"Think I might be too tall for that. Don't worry about me, I'm sure the floor will be more than comfortable."

She could hear the sarcasm dripping from his words, but what did he want her to do? She'd offer him the bed but he'd just protest and say that she should have it, so what was the point of even going through the rigmarole? "Would you like another pillow?" she offered.

"Really? You'd give me one of your precious pillows."

"Are you going to continuously be a dick on this trip?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow at him as she grabbed one of the cushions and practically flung it at his head. Luckily, he had good reflexes and caught it before it hit him square in the face.

"Probably yeah, but I think I deserve to be a bit of a dick when I'm being forced to marry you."

"Well then, I was going to offer you the bed, but now I don't think I'll bother," she huffed, a guilty feeling starting to nag at her for what she was making him do. "Goodnight," she scoffed, turning off the lamp and leaving the room in darkness, knowing full well he wasn't ready for bed yet.

"Oh, how mature."

"I need my beauty sleep."

"What? Run out of potions to keep yourself looking better than Snow White."

"Oh, stop it, everyone knows that the Evil Queen was hotter than that shrill-voiced princess."

"She was an old hag."

"No, she disguised herself as an old hag there's a difference."

"The magic mirror doesn't lie?"

"I thought beauty was in the eye of the beholder," she scoffed. She couldn't quite believe they were arguing about fairy tales in the pitch black whilst he was probably stood at the foot of the bed contemplating his next move. "Are you literally just standing there?"

"What do you expect me to do? You turned the lights off on me."

With a groan, she reached over and turned the lights back on, "you better hurry because I really need to go to sleep and I can't sleep with the lights on."

"Did I not tell you of my fear of the dark? I can't sleep without the lights on."

"Robin, you were in the dark a couple of seconds ago, so don't even think of feeding me that rubbish. Get ready, you have five minutes before the lights go off again."

"Are you timing me?"

"Yes," she nodded as she turned and buried the side of her face against the pillow, trying to find a comfortable position, her eyes locked on the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table. She could hear him moving around, digging in his bag for something before he headed out of the room, most likely to go to the bathroom.

The minutes ticked by and as soon as the five were up, she flicked the switch on the lamp and lay in wait, eager to see what his reaction would be to the room being in total darkness when he tried to come back inside. It wasn't long before he re-emerged.

"You actually turned the light off, seriously?"

She didn't answer him, pretending that she was already asleep, she was listening though, waiting for some kind of indication as to what he was doing or where in the room he was. A couple of seconds later she heard a clatter and some curse words come from him, she really had to stop herself from giggling as he swore under his breath. She had a feeling he'd just stubbed his toe or something, he'd definitely collided with a piece of furniture.

Suddenly though she was caught off guard by a heavyweight landing partially on top of her, "hey!" she squealed, flailing her arms and managing to smack him square in the face.

"Geeze Regina!"

"What the hell!"

"You turned the lights off, it isn't my fault."

"Well you knew you were staying on the floor, not on the bed," she huffed, shoving him a little before flicking the switch once again and having to adjust her eyes to the light in the room. She glanced at him and saw a red mark blossoming on his cheek.

"Oh, so now you turn the lights on," he tutted, moving off the bed and finding his sleeping area.

"Just go to sleep Robin," Regina murmured, as she plunged the room into darkness once again, satisfied that he was settled and wouldn't be making any more disturbances.

She tried to find a comfy position, but it was hard when she wasn't in her own bed, she was used to having a certain mattress and pillow, she'd wanted to bring her own pillow but Robin had snatched it from her and forced her to leave it at home. After a little wriggling, she finally found a position that she felt was going to work for her, though the feeling was short-lived as yet another pillow was whipped out from under her head. "Robin!"

"What? I need another pillow."

"I was just getting off to sleep."

"Yeah, good for you. That floor is harder than you might think."

"Suck it up," she huffed, "do you need any more pillows before I actually sleep?" To be honest, the number of pillows on the bed was a little excessive, she didn't know why his mother had put so many on there, though it seemed that was a blessing in disguise for this situation.

"I think I'm all set now."

"Good. Well, goodnight Robin."

"Goodnight Regina."

* * *

She had no idea what time it was when she next awoke, however, her throat felt as dry as the desert and she was positively parched. Carefully she slid out of bed and felt along the walls, following them towards the door, she didn't know why Robin had found it so difficult to navigate when she'd turned the lights off, for her it seemed easy.

Once she was out onto the landing, she made her way towards the stairs, it was still dark though, the only light was coming from the moon through the window at the end. As soon as she was safely downstairs, she found the light switch, the house was silent, a clear sign that everyone was asleep upstairs, she didn't want to wake them by turning on a light up there.

She took a glass from the cupboard and poured herself a glass of wafted from the tap. Robin told her that the water here was really good from the tap and she had to agree with him, it certainly didn't taste like that in London. Once her thirst was quenched, she glanced at a door she hadn't been through and without thinking that it might be rude to look through someone's house she opened it and was sprang upon by something large and fury. Her initial instinct was to scream and she did, letting out a deafening screech that seemed to scare the beast that had just jumped at her.

She backed away to the counter and only then did she realise her mistake, a border collie, without the typical stripe up its nose, was sat with its head tilted, staring directly at her as if trying to work out what the hell was wrong with her. To be fair though she had good reason to scream, it had startled her and how was she to know that the adorable dog watching her now wasn't going to maul her to death.

She heard thudding above her and then footsteps coming quickly down the stairs. Shit.

Robin appeared at the kitchen door with a panicked expression on his face, "what happened?! Are you okay?"

"Hmm," she nodded, watching as his mother father and brothers also emerged behind him. Damn, had she really screamed that loudly?

"What the hell was that then?"

"You didn't tell me you had a dog," she whispered, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly.

"Seriously? That scream was because you saw Meg?"

"To be fair I didn't know she was there and she jumped up on me," Regina stated pointing a finger at the dog, who seemingly took that as an instruction to come. She shuffled over, her head rubbing against Regina's hand, making her pull it back quickly, again earning a tilt of the head from the dog.

"Well dear, as long as you're alright I think we'll all go back to bed," his mother nodded as everyone but Robin retreated. She'd noticed Graham had been chuckling, David had looked annoyed and his mother and father didn't really seem to mind, though she guessed that they probably weren't too happy about it.

She looked down at her hands and then back up again, "sorry."

"Seriously? You were scared of her? She's a big softie and never hurt anyone," Robin laughed as he moved over to the dog and fussed her a little. "Are you coming back upstairs or do you want to stay down here with your new friend?"

"Very funny," she scoffed moving past him only to have the dog follow her, trotting along behind her.

"She clearly thinks you are friends."

"Whatever."

"Also, I can't believe that's what you're wearing to sleep in."

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to look at him, "what's wrong with these?"

"They're a little flimsy that's all."

"Well, I thought I'd be in a hotel room, alone. Not staying in a house with your entire family," she scoffed glancing down at the silky lavender short pyjama set that had lace on the hems. They weren't even what she would consider to be sexy so she didn't know what he was taking about.

She made her way back to the room and when she reached it, she realised that he'd turned the lights on, with a malicious smirk she flicked the switch and plunged the room into darkness. She found her way over to the bed and got back in waiting a moment for his reaction.

"Not again! Regina."

She giggled and buried her face in her pillow as she listened to him trying to find his way back to where he was sleeping.

"For that, you're on the floor tomorrow night."

"Yeah, you keep thinking that," she chuckled, flinging a cushion at him and earning a muffled groan in response. Regina smiled to herself and focused on getting in the rest of the sleep she would need to endure the next day.


	3. Cows!

The next morning, she dressed in a pair of suit pants and a burgundy blouse, only to be met with disdain from Robin, who was also rubbing his back and mumbling about the hard floor. "I don't get what's wrong with this outfit."

"Nothing is wrong with it in general, but considering what we'll be doing today, I don't think its really going to work. At all."

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes at him, she didn't know what his comment meant, but it sounded like something she should be marginally worried about.

"Because, we have plans and that outfit isn't really appropriate, unless you want it to get damaged, then by all means."

"Damaged? What the hell are we going to be doing today for it to get damaged?"

"Just you wait and see."

"Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Do you have any jeans?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously."

"No, I don't, not with me anyway."

"Well I'll just have to find you something then," he shrugged before leaving her standing in the bedroom with not a clue about what was going on. She wasn't going to wait for him to come back so decided to head down to the kitchen and see what everyone else in the family was doing, she also wanted to apologise again for accidentally waking them all in the middle of the night, she was still a little bit mortified about that.

When she reached the kitchen, she stopped in the doorway and took in their attire, they were all in scruffy overalls, Robin's mother had her greying hair thrown up in a high ponytail as she leant against the counter in green waterproofs, sipping from a mug of tea. "Regina dear, good morning. I do hope you slept well after the little scare you had with Meg."

"Oh yes, thank you, I'd like to apologise for waking you all, I feel terrible about it."

"Oh, don't worry sweetie," she waved it off, holding out a mug of, from what Regina could tell, was coffee. She took it gratefully and brought it to her lips, she was right in her guesses and it was delicious.

"Robin said I was overdressed but he didn't tell me what we'd be doing so…"

"You really don't have to take part if you don't want to, you can stay here and keep Roland and Anna company. George and the boys will all be coming out with myself, if you want to join, I can lend you some clothes."

"Join you doing what?"

"I got you some clothes to wear honey bun, of course, she's coming with us mum, she said she was really excited when I told her about it, she must have just forgotten."

Regina glared at Robin as he came into the kitchen, why was he making out as though she was stupid? She had a feeling that this was going to be an activity that she wasn't going to enjoy, especially if overalls were a requirement. She'd never worn a pair of overalls in her life. "It must have slipped my mind," she replied sweetly, eyeing the clothes in his arms, the worry was bubbling up inside now, she shouldn't have been so mean to him the night before.

"Here you go, why don't you go change into them, we'll have some breakfast and then we can head out."

"Wonderful," she quipped, forcing a smile onto her face as she took the clothes from him and turned to head to the bathroom.

* * *

When she returned to the kitchen, she was wearing a plain white t-shirt with denim dungarees which were a little too big for her, the look was completed with a tartan woollen fleece, something she would never have been seen dead in.

"Aww! Look at you, cutie pie! You look absolutely adorable sweetums."

"Isn't that the fury guy from the muppets," Robin's father piped up as he glanced at them from behind the newspaper, he was reading at the breakfast island.

"I believe so," Caroline chuckled, "don't tease them, George."

Regina groaned as she found a seat beside Robin, "I can't believe you're doing this to me."

"Yeah I know that you can't wait to see what we're gonna do," he grinned mischievously as he rested his chin on her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her middle making her freeze up a little. It was the closest she had ever been to him and she didn't really know what to make of it. He was warm around her, engulfing her in his large arms, she caught a want of the scent she knew belonged to him, a fresh pine aroma.

A large smile blossomed on his mother's face as she watched them and there was that nagging guilt once again, pushing itself to the forefront.

"Well then, who's ready to wrangle some cattle?" David asked as he came into the kitchen and clapped his hands.

"What?" Regina asked, her eyes widened as she stared at Robin, he hadn't said anything about cows. "What are we doing?"

"The cattle are due for their medical, we need to go and herd them up from the fields and bring them to the barn."

"Seriously?" Oh god no.

"Yep, come on sweet cheeks," Robin pushed himself off the stool.

"What about..."

The toaster pooped and Robin caught the toast, he spread some butter on it before handing it to her. "We'll eat on the go," he quipped, taking a bite from his toast as she simply stared at him dumbfounded.

"Come on baby."

"You want me to wrangle cattle in heels?"

"What size are your feet?"

"I'm a six."

"Mum, what size are you?"

"I'm a seven but witch some thick socks I'm sure they'll fit just fine. I'll go find you some," she smiled kindly before disappearing out of the kitchen into the little room the dog had jumped out from the day before. Regina was half expecting it to come bounding out, but apparently, that wasn't going to happen.

"Robin, I don't think I can do this," she murmured.

"Course you can, you'll be great at it. You even told me yourself."

"Told you what?"

"That you were an animal person not a people person, this should be right up your street."

"Well, apparently I lied, excuse me if I don't wish to be trampled on by a herd of cows."

"Aww come on baby, they're not gonna trample you, as long as you don't intimidate them."

"How will I know if I'm intimidating them?"

"Who gave Regina a red jacket when we're going in with them?" David asked around a mouthful of toast.

"Wait, why? Robin?"

"Don't you know bulls charge at the colour red?" David huffed.

"Are you serious? Robin!" She squealed louder than she had intended, "why would you give me this jacket if you knew they'd chase me."

"God, babe they're not gonna chase you. David stop being a dick, your teasing isn't charming," Robin huffed.

Caroline emerged from the side room with a pair of wellington boots and some thick socks in her hands, "here you are, these should fit you just fine."

"Great, let's go." Robin clapped as they all moved to put their boots on, Regina just stared at them. She didn't want to do it, but she also felt as though she had no option, she could hardly back out now, not when she was already changed and holding a pair of borrowed wellingtons.

Reluctantly she pulled the socks onto her feet and followed them into the hallway where they were all stood waiting for her. She sat down on the bench that was placed perfectly so you could put your shoes on, she couldn't remember the last time she'd worn a pair of wellies, it had been a long time.

"Well, don't you just look like a little farmer."

"Robin," she warned glancing up at him as his parents and David went outside without them, leaving them alone in the hallway. "I know that you're doing this on purpose and you probably think that its really funny, but I don't think that it's funny."

"Get down off your high horse, do you really think that this is all an act and that we wouldn't be doing this if you weren't here? This is what we do, my parents have a farm, we take care of animals, this is my childhood and I thought maybe you would want to take the chance to get to know a little more about what I grew up doing since we're getting married, but apparently I was mistaken. Guess I'd forgotten just how self-centred you are."

"Robin! I am trying! I really am, do you really think I would be putting these boots on if I wasn't willing to try. I do want to get to know more about you and I want your parents to like me. Despite what you might think, I do want to get to know you better. So, quit it with the moral high ground and give me a god damn break already." She stood from the chair and straightened her outfit. "So, is this really what people wear on the farm?"

"In Yorkshire, it is," he nodded with a little chuckle. He was wearing a pair of dungarees himself, but unlike her denim ones, his were blue and quite clearly waterproof, she had a feeling that they were going to get quite muddy. As long as she didn't get trampled by cows she could deal with a little mud.

As soon as she was out of the front door, she was nearly knocked off her feet by a blur of black and white, Meg ran into the courtyard and straight over to her, her face rubbing against Regina's hands as she barked happily, clearly wanting to be stroked. "Hello again," Regina murmured, she was still quite wary about the animal even though it seemed she had nothing to be worried about.

"She really does love you," Graham grinned as he wandered over to them, he was already covered in mud, he'd clearly been out beforehand, she had worried where he'd been when they were all in the kitchen.

"Did you take her on a walk?"

"Yeah but just a quick one, she's going to be doing her fair share of work today, didn't want to tire her out."

Regina smiled as she ran her finger's through the dog's fur, it seemed content just sitting by her feet. "Does she help with the cows?"

"Yeah, and the others," the youngest brother nodded before whistling loudly. Regina watched on as three more dogs similar to Meg appeared from around the corner. "These are mine. You've got Jack, Luna and Bella." The three dogs sat at his feet obediently. One of them, the boy, was a merle. The girl, Luna, was mostly white with one black ear and a black splodge on her back. Then the last one, Bella, was brown and white with the typical white strip. "Meg is mum and dad's and sometimes I think she's deaf because she has a hard time doing what I tell her to do."

"Hey, leave our Meg alone," Caroline tutted.

"Not my fault that you haven't trained your dog properly."

"I think she's great," Regina quipped as she looked down at the dog who was rubbing her nose against the palm of her hand.

"Thank you, Regina. Anyway, shall we head out, hopefully, we'll have this finished by the afternoon and we'll be able to find something else to keep us occupied. Emma said she would be coming over later."

Regina nodded, she'd still to meet Robin's sister, but from what he'd said she was the most laid back of the lot, so she wasn't going to worry about it. Robin moved closer to her, his arm wrapping around her waist before pulling her into his side. "You ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be," she nodded, Meg was trotting happily along by her side whilst the rest of the family walked ahead. "What exactly is it that we do? Aren't the dogs the ones doing the rounding up?"

"Yeah, pretty much, we've just got to make sure that they don't go off course, if they get spooked or anything they can accidentally injure themselves and we don't want that to happen. Basically, we just make sure the dogs do their job and get the cows back safely to the barns."

"Do you only have cattle or are there some sheep also?"

"Yeah, there are some sheep, but they are usually left to roam the moors, they're really hardy, much more so than the cows, so they take care of themselves. We check up on them now and again but they seem to be self-sufficient. Obviously, because the cows are more valuable and more things can go wrong with them, we keep them close by."

Regina offered him a small smile, it was nice to know more about his roots, find out what he had come from, what he was used to. Hopefully, the next few days would allow for much more of that.

Once she was out in the fields she realised that she had every right to be a little concerned about managing to help herd the cows, they were massive and she could only imagine how heavy they were.

"Robin I'm not sure about this," she murmured.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," he reassured.

"Yes, but will I get trampled on?"

"If you were going to get trampled on then you wouldn't be fine would you?"

"Alright smart arse, but I'm being serious. Will I get trampled on?"

"No, not if you do what I say, then you'll be just fine. Okay then, let's get started shall we," he clapped his hands and turned to his parents who nodded in agreement. "Right sweetie, can you go and stand with Meg and wait there?"

Regina looked around and saw Meg sat at the far end of the field, seemingly away from where any of the cows were and anywhere there weren't cows was somewhere she wanted to be. When the dog noticed she was coming her way her tail began wagging and Regina couldn't help the small chuckle that left her mouth. "Hey girl," she hummed, gently touching her head and stroking behind her ears. Although nearly as soon as she was there someone whistles and Meg shot off, running towards the cows with zero hesitation, the other three doing the same. She watched them as she worried her lip between her teeth, she didn't know what they were going to do next but clearly, the Locksleys' did, they were wrangling the cattle, making them move and using the dogs to help them.

A series of whistles and shouted commands later and the cows were coming directly towards her, being led by the dogs with the humans as backup. Her eyes widened as she looked at Robin, "what do I do?" She asked as they made their way closer. "Robin!"

"Go open the gate baby!"

She looked behind her and noticed the large metal gate that led into another field, she nodded and hurried towards it, anything to get her further away from the cows. Once she reached it, she fiddled with the latch, trying to pull it across but it was stiff and the bolt wouldn't move, the cattle were getting nearer and she was beginning to panic. She was way out of her depth. "Robin!"

"Just pull it."

"It's stuck."

"God, Regina just pull the bloody thing."

She fixed him a glare that she wasn't even sure he could see from his position before trying again to open the gate, using both hands to pull on the bolt that was held tightly in place by a rusted spring.

Meg ran towards her and she realised that the dog had been leading the front of the herd, the gate still wasn't open and they were right there. Without even thinking she scrambled over it and landed on the other side, but because she hadn't been looking her feet slipped out from under her and she landed in a muddy bog, her ass sinking into the dirt as she squealed, staring up at a cow that was peering over the gate at her, it's big eyes blinking as it probably wondered what the hell she was doing.

"Shit, are you okay?" Graham asked, patting the cow to get it to move before climbing over the gate himself and landing much more gracefully than she had. He offered her a hand which she gladly took and the sound of laughter met her ears as she glanced towards the gate and saw Robin looking at her.

"What in the world were you doing?"

"They were coming! I freaked out, they're huge."

"They wouldn't have done anything."

"What if I'd been crushed?" She scoffed, fixing him with a glare that she knew he would see this time. "The gate is stuck l..."

Robin pulled on the bolt opening the gate easily and she shook her head in defeat.

"Yeah, this gate really seems to be stuck," he quipped, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"How did you even do that?"

"With ease," he chuckled looking her up and down, "wow, just wow. Can I take a photo to remember this moment by?"

"What do you think?" she hissed, the wet mud really was caked on, soaking through her borrowed dungarees and into her panties. "This is disgusting."

"You look like you fit right in," Graham grinned patting her on the back before heading back to the cows.

"If you don't want to see the cows you better run and open that other gate, I'll give you a head start," Robin quipped.

"I hate you."

"You love me really and you know it," he chuckled, nudging her playfully. Regina caught the smile on his parents faces as they shared a look. "Run along then, the cows won't wait forever."

* * *

As soon as the cows had been led to the barn Regina left the Locksleys' to deal with it and headed inside the house to clean up, after falling in the thick mud she was in desperate need of a shower. She was quite sure that she stunk and that the puddle she had fallen into hadn't just been mud. As soon as she was under the flow of water, she allowed her body to relax, the warmness engulfed her body as the dirt swirled down the plug hole.

She foamed up her body wash and passed the flannel over her body, cleaning off the thick muck before making sure that her hair was properly rinsed off. Once she was clean, she simply stayed under in the shower, trying to get herself to relax, she must have been in there a good twenty minutes before there was a knock on the door of the bathroom.

Regina snapped out of her trance and turned off the water, she quickly slipped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before heading to the door of the bathroom. She knew exactly who would be at the other end of that door and she was ready to give him a piece of her mind about laughing at her misfortune.

She ripped the door open violently and went into a ramble of things that she wanted to say, "you utter arsehole! I can't believe you… Graham?"

"Hey, sorry, I just wanted to use the bathroom."

"Sorry, I thought you were Robin."

"I thought as much," the man chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "he's still downstairs. You're right though, he was a dick for laughing at you."

"I know," she nodded, leaning against the door frame and holding the towel tighter against her, "have you finished with the cows?"

"Yeah, we have. Are you all nice and clean now?" he asked, his eyes running over her frame before meeting hers once again.

"I think you know the answer to that one," she quipped, tucking a strand of her damp hair behind her ear and looking up at him with a small smile playing on her lips. She had to admit that he was quite easy on the eye, "are you taking a shower?"

"Yeah, you can join me if…"

"Seriously Graham?" Robin scoffed as he came along the landing, "that isn't even funny."

"I'm joking bro, don't worry," he grinned, winking at Regina before disappearing inside the bathroom.

Regina rose an eyebrow at Robin but he simply glared at her, shaking his head and moving into the bedroom. She rolled her eyes and followed him. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Regina asked as she searched through her case for something to wear, she could feel his eyes on her and it was annoying. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Because I want to know what the fuck you were playing at out there. Flirting with my brother? For god's sake Regina!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that I wasn't even allowed to talk to him."

"You are allowed to talk to him, but don't look at him as though you want to rip his bloody clothes off."

"Seriously? Get over yourself, Robin."

"How can you even deny it? I just saw you!"

"Robin! All I was doing was talking to him, stop it."

"You're actually so annoying!" He yelled, stalking closer to her, "if you hate me so much, do you want to back out of this agreement? Why don't you just go ask Graham to help you out?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head, "god, you really are an arsehole."

"Think whatever you want to think," he spat, grabbing some clothes before retreating out of the bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

She stood staring at the door wondering how on earth that had just happened.


	4. Making Amends

**Thank you for your reviews! Keep them coming. :) **

* * *

It was a couple of hours later when Regina finally found the courage to leave the room, she was nervous about facing Robin after what happened. He was mad at her and she couldn't understand what she had done that was so bad, it wasn't as though she had been the one to invite Graham to share her shower. Sure, she could have put an end to their conversation quicker than she had done, but she was just being friendly. So what if she might have been flirting a tiny bit.

It wasn't as though they were actually engaged, but she supposed she could see where he was coming from a little bit, as far as Graham knew, she was marrying his brother, so it was a little out of line for him to talk to her the way he had done. She was just shocked at how angry Robin had actually been.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her black and white sweater before smoothing down the fabric of her black jeans. She didn't really know what to say and hoped to put it off for as long as possible. She ended up lingering in the doorway, peering around and spying on the family as they sat in the sitting room talking about all sorts. Robin was beside his Grandparents, his two brothers were on one couch and his parents were on another, there wasn't a spare seat and that was enough to put her on edge.

She had a feeling they were discussing the work they had done with the cattle earlier and she was considering whether she should go in or if it would be best to just go back up to the room and pretend that she didn't exist.

"What are we meant to be looking at?" A whispered voice met her ears and she felt a presence behind her, also peering into the sitting room. She whipped around and came face to face with a tall blonde wearing a red leather jacket and a cheeky smirk.

"Oh… I…"

"Were you spying on my family?" the woman asked with a chuckle, still keeping the noise down.

"No, I just. I didn't want to intrude and…"

"Trust me they don't bite."

"I know that," Regina murmured, seeing the sparkle in the woman's green eyes, they certainly didn't match those of her brothers', she was assuming this woman was Emma, but she didn't know for sure. She'd seen childhood photos strewn around but couldn't be certain. "I just feel somewhat out of place."

"Not going to lie to you, you do look a little out of place."

"Oh, thank you very much."

"I meant it in the nicest possible way, it's not an insult trust me. You're just not like any of the girls my brothers usually bring home, you're clearly a woman… I mean, you look like a classy bird and well, my brothers aren't exactly classy if you catch my drift."

"I think I do but I can't be certain." The woman's accent was thicker than Robin's, Graham had a hint of the Yorkshire lilt in his voice, but any accent Robin might have had seemed to have disappeared since he moved to London.

"I'm Emma by the way."

"I thought as much. Regina."

"Robin's boss slash fiancée, got it. Can't say I'm at all surprised, people love a good enemy to lovers' trope. I bet you act like you hate each other when secretly you both want to tear one another's clothes off and have at it."

Regina simply stared at the woman, she didn't exactly know how to reply to that comment. If she had a brother or sister, she didn't think that she would want to even think about them having sex or anything like that, maybe that was because her family had been extremely conservative with their opinions. Growing up, sex had been a taboo subject in her house, one she had made sure never to bring up. "Something like that."

"I knew it! The moment he came home and told me that he hated you but you were hot I knew that this would happen!"

"Robin hated me?"

Emma's smile faltered a little as she shrugged her shoulder, "so hate might have been a bit of a strong word. And I know that he must love you now. To even bring you here to meet us he must really be invested in your relationship, he doesn't let us meet anyone."

"I see."

"Now are you coming in there or are you going to run off and hide?"

"I suppose I'll come in," she stated quietly. Robin hated her. Great. That was just great. She knew that many of her employees had a dislike for her but she'd never thought that Robin was one of them, sure she had known about his distaste for her sometimes when she was in one of her moods, but she'd thought that was all it was, maybe she'd been mistaken.

"Look who I found loitering on the corridor," Emma quipped as she gestured to Regina before making her way into the room and hugging her family members.

Regina's eyes fell onto Robin but he wasn't looking back at her, in fact, he was looking at anyone but her. He was still angry it seemed and she didn't know if she would be best sucking it up and apologising, not that she knew exactly what it was that she was apologising for.

"Hey," Graham grinned as he moved closer to her.

She offered him an awkward smile before taking a deep breath and pleading for the courage to do what she had to, "can I please talk to you about something?" she asked, looking up at the man whose smirk grew as he nodded and lead her out into the kitchen.

"Hey, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, going to the fridge and grabbing a beer for himself and offering one to her, but she shook her head in response.

"I just… earlier the whole bathroom situation. It was a little inappropriate," she whispered awkwardly, she knew he had been joking but she also felt as though she needed to set some boundaries and clarify that she was with Robin. Not that she was actually with Robin, but they needed everyone to think that, including his brother.

"Was it what I said about joining me in the shower?"

"Yes, that."

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would offend you, I was just joking around."

"Yes, I know that, but Robin, he wasn't happy about it and I just feel like you overstepped just a little. I'm his fiancée and were getting married so… I guess what I'm trying to say is, as much as I am flattered by your flirting, I'm marrying your brother and there is a line that has to be respected."

"Yeah, I totally get it. Sorry. I guess I got carried away, you're gorgeous and I forgot myself. Forgive me?" he asked, pouting at her in a way that had her rolling her eyes.

"Okay, but really, this can't happen again. I really need Robin in my life and I can't jeopardise our relationship over meaningless flirting."

"Right, message received," he nodded before awkwardly walking out of the kitchen and leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She took a deep breath and leant against the counter, she knew that had been necessary and she had been stupid to even flirt around with him earlier that day. The next step was to talk to Robin, but that one was going to take much more effort than talking to Graham had, she didn't really understand why he had been as annoyed as he had been but knew that she was going to have to find a way to make it up to him.

"Are you hiding in here already?" Emma asked as she reappeared, walking straight over to the fridge, "you look like you have a lot on your mind."

"I suppose I do," she nodded with a sigh.

"I know we don't know each other really, but do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, I don't talk about feelings."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Emma laughed, "you and Robin really are made for one another. He's just as much of a thought harbourer as you are."

"What has he actually told you about me. Don't sugar coat it, I want to know."

"Well, there have been quite a few tales told over the years and from what I could gather it sounded quite like he hated you most of the time," the blonde woman winced as she grabbed herself a drink and moved to lean against the counter opposite Regina. "I know the family were a little shocked when Robin called and told us that he was bringing you home to meet us all and that you were his girlfriend. I think though, to be honest, I had a feeling that there was more to his hatred of you than what it actually was. Like I said earlier, you have the enemies to lover's vibe going on."

Regina didn't know about that one, all she was hearing was that Robin hadn't liked her and now he had sprung it on his family out of the blue that they were getting married. It sounded suspicious and the worry began to blossom once again at the thought of this not going according to plan. "Well, I love your brother so…"

"Good, I'm glad, it's about time he found someone that made him happy. God knows Marian broke most of the trust he had in women."

"David and Graham mentioned her yesterday. Did she mean a lot to Robin?"

"Yeah, she was one of his first girlfriends and everyone thought that they would get married one day, but that didn't happen."

"Why? If they were so in love, why didn't they get married I…"

"You ladies gossiping in here?" Robin asked as he appeared in the doorway, his eyes meeting hers and she couldn't tell if he was still mad at her, there was a smile on his face but she couldn't be sure.

"You know me, Robin, I'm always one for a gossip," Emma winked, "I'm going to head back into the sitting room."

"Okay," Regina nodded, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she was left alone with Robin, "can we go somewhere private to talk?"

"You still want to talk to me after I was an idiot this morning?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair in a way that almost made him seem nervous.

"Yes, I feel that we have quite a bit to talk about."

"Okay, I suppose we can head back to our room for a few minutes," he quipped before leading her up the stairs and towards their bedroom. She followed behind him knowing that this conversation was inevitable and she would rather get it over and done with, they needed to get back on better terms if they wanted this to work.

Once they the door was closed behind them Regain knew she just needed to get what she needed to say off her chest, "I talked to Graham about what happened earlier."

"What? Why?" Robin narrowed his eyes at her.

"I told him that his comments were inappropriate and that I didn't like it."

"You did?"

"Yes, I did. I know you weren't happy about it and I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"If we're going to do this, we need I look as though we're actually engaged and that means being honest with each other."

"Yes, I agree. Do you want to tell me why his comment got you so annoyed and why you went off on one?"

"I'm sorry," Robin sighed, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, his hands rubbing over his face, "it's just Graham has always been able to get everything that he wants, even if that something belongs to someone else."

Regina rose an eyebrow and moved over to perch beside him, "why do I have a feeling that this isn't just about childhood toys."

"Ha, he took them too, but no. He always seems to go after women that I'm with, he's charming that way."

"Is this about Marian?"

"How do you know about Marian?"

"Emma told me."

"Oh, well yeah, after Marian I just stopped bringing people home to meet the family, I know it sounds stupid, but I'd like he's trained in the art of seduction."

Regina chuckled and shook her head, "I had a friend back home who was just the same."

"You had a friend?"

"Haha, very funny. It might be a surprise to you that I have friends but I do, well, back in America anyway," she whispered the last part. She didn't really have anyone here; all her friends were still overseas and with work, she'd had little time to make any since she'd been in Britain. "We went to school together and she would always try and seduce the teachers, she didn't even care what gender," Regina chuckled remembering how Mal would flirt shamelessly with literally anyone.

"Do you miss her?"

"God, all the time. We talk but it's just not the same, she was my first..." she stopped herself, not wanting to tell him about that, not yet anyway. "Friend, she was my only true friend, the only one who really understood me."

"You're quite a complicated person to understand," Robin grinned, nudging her playfully causing her to roll her eyes and push him back. "I think that I understand you well enough though. You're not as harsh as you make out to be."

"Ah, I don't know about that one."

"Think what you want, but I know that you're not all bad."

"Well thank you, I hope that was meant to be a compliment."

"I suppose it was," he chuckled before standing from the bed again, "come on, let's start again. Forget about Graham and just try to enjoy this trip."

Regina nodded in agreement and took his offered hand before going with him to re-join his family.

* * *

The rest of the day had passed rather uneventfully, she had been out to visit the horses with Robin and learnt how to muck them out. This was something she had done before and shocked him with her skills, what she didn't relay was that she knew because of the horses at her boarding school and how she had been put on stable duty most of the time. Horses used to be her method of escape, but it had been nearly fifteen years since she had even petted one. It had been nice for her to be around the majestic creatures once again.

In the time they had been at the stables she had been able to learn a bit more about Robin's past, finding out things she knew that she would need for the interview they would be having with immigration on their return to London. Yet she had allowed him very little insight into her past, she was reluctant to share with him she didn't know what it was but she never told anyone about her childhood, mainly because it hadn't been an exactly happy one.

As for the immigration interview, the first one had left their interviewer more than a little suspicious and that was why they were going to have to try extra hard if they wanted this to go according to plan. He had informed them that he would be keeping tabs on them and enquiring with people they knew. They had used the lie that because Robin was her assistant, they hadn't wanted anyone judging their relationship and Robin had cleverly added that he was in line for a promotion soon and they didn't want people thinking he had slept his way up the job ladder. This, of course, wasn't true, but seemingly it was going to be once they arrived home, he had made it one of the conditions.

They were sat around the dining table and Regina could feel Robin's grandfather's eyes on her, he still hadn't really talked to her and she was beginning to worry about it. There was a slight lull in the conversation and she took that as her chance to speak up, "so, Robin tells me that you're a keen fisherman," she stated, looking up at the old man and seeing him nod as he took a forkful of chicken from his plate.

"Robin hasn't told me much about you."

"Well, I'm really not all that interesting, but I bet you have many stories to tell," she glanced at Robin who was sat to her left and wondered not for the first time what he had told his grandfather about her.

"Sure," he nodded.

"Pops, why don't you tell Regina the story of how you and grandma met?" Robin prompted.

The old man looked at his grandson for a moment before relenting and nodding in agreement, "I met June during the post-war era, a couple of years after the war when I was just eighteen."

Regina glanced at Robin's grandmother who was smiling as she watched her husband, her heart clenched and she hoped that one day she would find someone to love her as strongly as the couple in front of her loved one another.

"He was a young and handsome cadet and we met at a dance, I was only sixteen at the time, but he swept me off my feet."

"She was the prettiest lass I'd ever laid eyes on and I knew that I had to make her mine."

"Two months later and we were married, my parents nearly had kittens, but I loved him from the moment I saw him. We've been together ever since. Doesn't mean we haven't had our ups and downs though, we certainly did."

"Hmm," the elderly man nodded, "seventy-two years later and here we are."

"That's amazing," Regina whispered, looking between the two of them in awe. "Thank you for sharing your story with me."

"I'd ask you how you met Robin, but we already know that you were his boss."

"Yes, it took a while for Robin and I to eventually fall for one another I must admit."

"Well, when you spend so much time with one person whether it be late night laboratory sessions or weekends away at science conferences, the connection is inevitable right?" Robin asked, allowing his arm to fall across the back of her chair.

"Something like that."

"I just don't understand why Robin didn't tell any of us that the two of you were dating, never mind engaged," Roland quipped.

"Well, that was probably my fault, I thought if anyone knew we were together it might jinx us. Then when Robin proposed I guess I realised it was probably time that people found out about." She offered his family a shy smile.

"How did he propose?" Caroline asked eagerly, "where's your ring? I was wondering that."

"Oh, he knew that I would want to choose my own ring, isn't that right?"

"Of course, it is sweetheart. Everyone knows that this woman is the most particular person on the planet, god forbid I buy her the wrong engagement ring. As for the proposal, I think Regina should tell this story, she's really good at it."

She cast him a tight-lipped smile to mask the expression of her want to murder him for putting her in it, they hadn't talked about a potential proposal story so she had no clue what to say. "Well, it was a hard time for me I have to admit, I thought maybe he was having an affair."

"What?!" Robin asked, nearly choking on the wine he had just sipped from his glass, "darling, you didn't tell me that."

"I know because I realised that I was being silly and you were actually planning the beautiful proposal, maybe you should talk more about the thought behind that."

"Well, since we're both so obsessed with science, I thought an interesting proposal would be to use a chemistry experiment." Regina nodded along with him, it sounded like a feasible idea. "Initially I was going to include a ring but I quickly realised that she would want to choose her own so I had to find another idea,"

"Okay son, we don't really need to hear the long version, skip to the proposal," his grandfather prompted.

"Fine. Well, I used a chemical reaction to spell out will you marry me and she said yes."

"It was quite the reaction," she smiled, "there was a lot of fire and colour and you did well to keep your eyebrows on your face," Regina grinned mischievously as she took a final bite of her chicken before placing her fork down. "Dinner was delicious, thank you."

"You're very welcome dear, time for dessert."

"Oh, thank you, but I don't eat desserts."

"One dessert won't kill you, sweetie," Robin quipped, his foot colliding with her shin under the table.

"I suppose you're right, I can't wait for dessert."


	5. Kindness is a funny thing

**Sorry, this update is so late! I've had a busy couple of weeks, I went away during Easter and have been concentrating on my Illustration coursework. Now you're FINALLY getting this chapter! I predict that there are about three or four chapters left. So I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Once they retired to their room for the night it was nearing twelve am and Regina was feeling exhausted, she needed to get some sleep and was looking forward to just flopping on the bed. Meg the dog had been sat beside her the entire night, resting her head against her feet or legs, nudging her in a silent request to be petted.

Regina had managed to get away before Robin and she was certainly going to attempt to steal the bed once again, even though a part of her was saying that it was unfair for her to have the bed for the entirety of their stay, unfortunately for Robin the bigger part of her wanted that comfy mattress.

She went to the bathroom first to get ready for bed, she had to remove her makeup and complete her nightly routine before she could actually get a decent night's sleep. As soon as she was finished, she moved back to the bedroom, eager to climb into bed, only to find Robin sprawled out across it. "Oi, what are you doing!"

"Going to sleep, what does it look like?"

"You don't sleep there."

"Seriously? I thought we'd at least be alternating with who gets to sleep in the bed."

"What made you think that?" she scoffed, nudging him over and moving so that she could get under the duvet, there was no way she was sleeping on the floor. "I told you I have a bad back, I can't sleep on the floor."

"You really are something aren't you," he huffed, moving over a little so she had some more room. She could tell that he was reluctant to leave the bed, but she didn't know if she would be able to share with him. In the past she had always felt awkward when sharing a bed with another person, she would get anxious and not sleep a wink.

"Robin I…"

"Don't worry princess, I wouldn't want you to hurt your precious back," he sighed, moving out of the bed and back to where he had made a makeshift bunk on the floor. He'd pilled up blankets and pillows and she had to admit that it did look as though it was quite comfortable.

"Robin. I'll sleep on the floor," she reluctantly offered. She knew he was right; she was being a bitch by insisting that he allow her to sleep in the bed.

"Forget about it, I'm down here now. Could you please turn the light off?"

"Now?"

"Yeah, I'd like to go to sleep."

"Oh, okay, yes," she nodded, leaning over to turn off the light that sat on her bedside counter, plunging them into darkness. She didn't know how, but it was even more awkward than it had been the night before.

"We could always share the bed if you wanted," Regina whispered into the dark. She would try and sleep with him beside her, it was unfair that he had to sleep on the ground.

"I'm fine here, but thank you for offering."

"Am I really that repulsive that you wouldn't want to sleep beside me?" She asked.

"No of course not, you're really the opposite, but I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I wouldn't be uncomfortable."

"I'm okay, honestly, just go to sleep Regina."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't offer," she murmured, now more awake than ever. It was silent in the room and she could hear his soft breathing coming from the bottom of the bed. She wondered if he was finding it as difficult to fall seep as she was, she didn't seem to remember having that problem the night before.

A little later after struggling for what seemed like hours to fall asleep, she heard scratching at the bedroom door, she sat up and furrowed her eyebrows. What the hell even was that? She crawled to the bottom of the bed and looked down, her eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room, from what she could tell robin was already asleep. "Robin," she whispered as she climbed off the edge of the bed and moved to prod him. "Robin."

He groaned and rolled over, Regina sighed and turned to the door where the sound of scratching was still coming from. She silently tiptoed towards the door, before opening it a touch, as soon as she had, it was pushed open and a flash of black and white dashed past her and dove onto the bed. Regina looked towards it and saw a pair of eyes staring back at her, "hey there girl." She could just about make out the white tip of the dog's tail swishing in the dark.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked, closing the door before moving back to the bed and climbing on, as soon as she was under the covers Meg moved up closer to her and curled up beside her with her head resting on Regina's chest. "Did you want to sleep in bed with me girl? I don't know if you're allowed," she whispered, allowing her fingers to run through the dogs fur. The dog responded by snuggling closer and Regina shook her head before lying down properly with her arm wrapped around the border collie who seemed to be completely relaxed beside her.

She closed her eyes and felt the tension leave her as she snuggled further into the blankets, drifting off to sleep with the dog cuddled up beside her.

* * *

The next morning, she was startled awake by a knocking at the door, her eyes flashed open as she was practically trampled on by an excited dog who shot off the bed towards the entrance to greet her owner who was behind it. "I brought you breakfast in bed, hope you're both decent."

"Just a minute!" Regina called out, the panic rising within her chest, she grabbed one of her pillows and flung it at Robin, who was somehow still asleep, though to be fair he hadn't been stood on by a fully-grown border collie. "Robin!" she hissed, watching as he simply rolled over, snuggling further into his fort of blankets. "Wake up."

He groaned and shook his head, Regina began to freak out because there was no way she could leave Caroline waiting at the door forever, Robin needed to wake up and he needed to do it quickly before their entire cover was blown. Seeing no other alternative, she jumped off the bed and practically sat on top of him, "wake the fuck up!"

"Regina what the hell," he murmured, opening his eyes in alarm as he looked up at her with sleepy eyes.

"Your mother is at the door," she stated, standing from her position and grabbing some of the blankets he was using, as well as the cushion which had been his pillow.

"Shit," he scrambled to scoop everything up and dumped it all on top of her as she got back under the covers, before following her lead and sliding in on the other side.

"Okay, you can come in now Caroline," Regina quipped, Robin had moved closer to her than she had been expecting and he was practically spooning her back, to the point where she could feel something hard pressing against her ass, "what is that?" she whispered under her breath as the door opened.

"It's the morning."

"What do you mean it's the morning?"

"What do you think I mean?"

Her eyes widened in realisation and she glanced at him over her shoulder, "that is so gross."

"Good morning love birds," Caroline beamed as she came through the door, "I brought you a range of things, pastries, toast cereals and yoghurt, orange juice and coffee."

"Thank you it all looks amazing, you really shouldn't have gone to so much effort," Regina smiled kindly as she took in the wide spread Robin's mother had prepared for them.

"Oh it was no bother, I'm happy to do it. I thought you might be tired this morning after yesterday's activities."

Regina nodded, she was becoming more and more aware of Robin's appendage sticking into her back, his arms were wrapped around her as well and she hoped that their embrace looked genuine enough for his mother to believe it.

"Did you both sleep well?"

"Yes, wonderfully thanks," she looked around at Robin who was saying very little, his fingers were moving across her skin, tickling her gently, it was a strange sensation but not an unpleasant one. "The bed is very comfortable."

"Good, I'm glad, though I don't know why you need so many blankets," Caroline chuckled before going quiet and simply standing there.

"Regina gets cold in the night and she pilled on the blankets," Robin stated, finally deciding to speak up and help her out.

"I see. Well, I suppose I will leave you to enjoy your breakfast then. We have a surprise for you after Regina, so don't take too long," she winked before leaving the room with Meg following behind her.

As soon as the door closed Regina let out a breath and relaxed back against Robin who was holding her to him, "that was a close call."

"Too close," he agreed, his chin resting on her shoulder as they sat there and contemplated what just happened. It had shaken her a little, just the thought of being caught out had her stomach in knots, she didn't want to return to America. England was her home now and she just hoped that it could continue to be.

They sat there for a couple more moments before she finally realised what was happening, she was practically lounging in his arms as though they were a genuine couple, he still hadn't let go of her and was caressing her stomach over her nightdress in a strangely intimate way. It felt somewhat nice. Comforting almost. She couldn't allow it to continue, clearing her throat she extracted herself from his arms and reached for the cup of coffee sat on the tray. "Would you like anything?"

"Yeah, um, yes please."

She stood up, feeling the need to get out of bed and distance herself a little, "so we have croissants or cereal?"

"Both?"

Regina rolled her eyes and placed the tray on the bed before perching on the edge, "I guess I should probably learn how to cook right? Don't want you leaving me for another woman," she quipped, trying to joke with him and earning a dry laugh in response.

"I haven't left you yet," he shrugged. She watched him for a moment before shaking her head and standing up again. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I might go outside and catch a little fresh air."

"We haven't even had breakfast yet."

"I know, I just, I could do with some air you know, clear my head a little." She quickly grabbed the freshly washed dungarees from the armchair in the room and pulled them on before casting him a small smile and taking one of the croissants. "I'll be back soon."

"Okay."

She nodded at him once more before escaping the room and closing the door behind her, feeling as though she could finally breathe again.

* * *

"Hey," Robin quipped as he sat down beside her on the fallen log she had been perched on for a good half hour. "I wondered where you'd gone."

"Well, you found me, congratulations."

"Do I get a prize?"

"Don't push your luck," she chuckled, looking over her shoulder at him, "its peaceful out here and it allows me to think."

"Can I ask what's on your mind?"

"Everything, what were doing, worrying that it isn't going to work and that you'll get into trouble because of me."

"You said it yourself, no one is going to find out, don't worry about me," he reassured, nudging her playfully. "My mother and grandmother are looking for you."

"Do you know what they are planning?"

"I think they wanted to take you shopping."

She groaned and shook her head, "I hate shopping."

"Really? You don't seem to have a problem with going shopping back home."

"I can't quite imagine they have the same stores here as they do in London."

"You don't know that, besides, afterwards they want to take you sightseeing."

"I hate sightseeing."

"Very funny," he rolled his eyes playfully and she shook her head as she laughed. "So, what don't you hate?"

"My job."

"Oh god Regina, get a life," Robin stood up and offered her his hand, "are you going to come back inside with me, or will you be staying out here for the rest of the day hiding from my family."

"I'm not hiding from your family; I'm merely sitting here so that I can think about things."

"Okay, but I know it would really mean a lot to my mother if you went into town with them."

"Are you not coming?"

"I think they wanted it to be a girl's trip, plus, shopping isn't really my thing."

"Fine."

"Anyone would think that you were upset because you couldn't spend time with me."

"Don't flatter yourself," she quipped with an eye roll before standing from the log and straightening her clothes, "I really need to go and get changed before I go anywhere." Without waiting to hear his witty come back, she scampered off back towards the house to find some clothes that didn't drown her.

* * *

As soon as she was ready, she was whisked off by his mother and grandmother and bundled into the car as they drove down the country lanes, before moving onto ones that were more vehicle-friendly. On the journey she enjoyed the views from the window, the fields seemed to be endless seas of green which spanned for miles either side of the road, interspaced with forests and clusters of houses. It was peaceful and, in many ways, reminded her of her childhood.

"You live in such a beautiful place," she stated during a lull in conversation. Caroline met her eyes in the review mirror and smiled at her.

"We like it, sometimes I wonder why on earth Robin traded this for the hustle and bustle of London. The times we've been to visit him it's so busy, it seems as though everyone is rushing, I guess here it's just slower, life is slower. In a good way."

"I can imagine and yes, London is crazy most of the time, it is hard to find a peaceful moment."

"Well darling, maybe you shouldn't work so much."

"Ah, I love my job."

"Yes, and it's an important one, but Robin tells us that you aren't ever out of the office or laboratory, wherever you are."

"I suppose that's true," she confessed. What else would she really be doing with her time, she didn't have anything else, her job was her life and that was just about it. That was how she managed to work her way up the field so quickly, she'd had no distractions and was 100% percent committed. Even if that meant she was entirely alone in life. She had no one.

"Well, hopefully, we will be able to take your mind off your work while you're staying with us and give you a well-earned break."

"Thank you, I'm enjoying it so far."

"You don't have to lie dear; we know that you didn't really enjoy the cattle-herding yesterday."

"No, I suppose not, but it was nice to see how Robin grew up and what kinds of things he does when he's here," she confessed, it wasn't a complete lie, as much as she hated what they had done the day before, it was interesting to see Robin in his natural habitat so to speak. "What is it we're going to be doing in town?"

"Oh, I thought we could do a spot of retail therapy, pop into the shops. Mum needs a new dress for Dad's birthday party tonight."

"Tonight? I thought his birthday was a couple of days away," Regina stated in alarm, she thought she had longer to prepare, she had been almost certain that his birthday was in two days.

"The party is tonight, but yes, his birthday isn't until then."

"I see," she felt the nerves bubble in her stomach, they were never far away on this trip, she seemed to be nervous about everything. She did have a dress in mind, one of her favourites, but she just hoped that it would be appropriate, not that she could see why it wouldn't be. "What is it you're looking for?"

"Something floral I think dear."

"That sounds lovely June," Regina nodded, smiling at the older woman.

* * *

A couple of hours later and both June and Caroline had bought new dresses, Regina, on the other hand, had insisted that she already had one, even if Robin's mother had been quite insistent that one of the dresses she'd tried on was perfect for her. It had taken much longer than she had been expecting and she was ready to get back to the farm, "are we heading home now?"

"Ah, no, there's just one more stop before we go back," Caroline quipped, leading them out of the shop and down the street. She had a sly smile on her face and it was slightly un-nerving. They walked for about five minutes before stopping outside a shop, Regina looked up at the building and shook her head.

"What's this?"

"I thought maybe we could go in there and just have a little look."

"I don't know about that, I…"

"I think it's a wonderful idea, come along dear," without any further ado, both Caroline and June grabbed each of Regina's arms before pulling her into the store.

"Hello, welcome to Boutique Bridal. Which one of you is the lucky woman?" the shop assistant asked, coming over to them.

"Regina is my daughter-in-law to be and we thought she could try on a few dresses," Caroline stated with a smile.

"Of course, do you know what kind of dress you're looking for?"

Regina looked at the woman in shock, trying to process what was actually going on, had they really just hijacked her and taken her into a bridal shop? How was she supposed to think about this, she and Robin were meant to be having a quick wedding in a registry office and that meant that she wouldn't be needing any elaborate ball gowns, something made her think that his family weren't going to let that happened and it set off her anxiety. "I hadn't really given it much thought, to be honest."

"Well, that doesn't matter, feel free to look around and if you spot anything, we can help you try it on and see what you think."

"Thanks, I think," she whispered, glancing to Caroline, "I appreciate your enthusiasm but…"

"Have you even looked at dresses yet?" the older woman asked, beginning to look through the racks of white dresses as June began at the other end of the shop. "It's so exciting."

"Robin and I were really wanting to keep the wedding low key, we didn't want anything too elaborate."

"Darling, you need a dress, it doesn't mean it has to be too fancy, we just want you to feel special on your big day. You're only going to get married once and you want everything to be perfect, don't you?"

Regina stared at her feeling completely baffled, she knew that Caroline had a point, any normal bride would be getting excited about choosing her wedding dress. She needed to play the part properly, even if she was feeling totally overwhelmed by the sudden reality of the situation.

"Come on sweetie, just have a look at them, you might find something you like."

She sighed and rolled her eyes before moving over to the clothes rack and began to thumb through them half-heartedly. She'd glanced at around twenty dresses before stopping in her tracks and staring at one dress in particular. It had a floaty skirt with lace along the bottom edge, the top provided a sweetheart neckline with three quarter length lace sleeves. It was simple but breath-taking. "Oh my," she whispered.

"Did you find anything?" Caroline asked, coming up behind her, "that is gorgeous."

"I know."

"Well then, let's get you into it!" she clapped happily, beckoning over the sales assistant. As much as Regina liked the dress, she didn't know if she really wanted to try it on, not when she knew that the whole wedding would be a sham. Why waste money on a beautiful dress?

"Come on Regina, I know you'll look stunning."

"Okay," she nodded, following the sales assistant who led her to the changing rooms.

"If you need any help, just give me a shout."

Regina smiled at her awkwardly before closing the door and staring at the dress which was hanging up. She took a deep breath before reaching out and touching it, part of her wanted to walk away, but the other larger part was screaming at her to just try it, just put the god damned dress on. She shook her head and took off her pants before removing her jumper and sliding the dress from the hanger, the fabric felt so nice in her hands and a strange excitement whipped through her at the thought of having it on her body.

She stepped into the dress and pulled it up over her body, her hands going to the back before she even looked in the mirror. Once it was fully on she stared down at the ground, not wanting to look up for fear of what she might be met with when she did. After a moment of composing herself, she glanced up at her reflection and had to bite her cheek to stop herself from crying. It was perfect, the most beautiful thing she'd ever worn and subjecting the dress to her sham of a marriage to Robin wouldn't be right.

Before she could stop herself, there were tears rolling down her cheeks and she slumped to sit on the chair in the dressing room. She hated feeling this way, but couldn't stop it. She was a liar and they were both lying to his family, her conscience was heavy with that knowledge. These people were wonderful and they were deceiving them, she was making Robin trick his family and lie to them and she knew what an awful person that made her.

"Regina dear, have you put it on, can we see?"

"Just a minute," she called, grabbing her purse and rooting around for a tissue to wipe her eyes. Once she had cleaned herself up enough, she took a deep breath before stepping out of the changing room and hearing the gasps of Robin mother and grandmother.

"Oh my goodness. You look stunning! How do you feel?"

"I love it," she nodded in agreement.

"Well then, I think its settled. I want to buy this for you."

"What? No, Caroline, that isn't necessary…"

"Robin told us that your family isn't there for you and I want to be there for you. I want to buy you this dress, think of it as a welcome to the family present."

"I don't think…"

"No arguments. Do you like the dress?"

"Yes, it's perfect but…"

"What did I say, dear, don't argue with me. I want to buy it."

"I have my own money, I can pay, you don't need to…"

"Are you arguing with me again dear?"

"No." She shook her head, glancing at June and seeing that she was in tears as she looked at her, "are you alright?" Regina asked, moving over to her and taking her hands gently.

"Yes, I'm fine darling, you just look so beautiful and Robin is going to be positively blown away when he sees you. I'm just so happy for you both."

Regina felt her own eyes begin to sting once more and she really needed to get back into the changing room before anyone else saw. "Thank you, both of you."

"Regina, you don't need to be afraid to show us how you feel. We're family now," Caroline stated, moving over to them.

She felt overcrowded but her emotions were up in the air and she wasn't sure how to feel about any of it. "I'm just so happy I found the perfect dress," she cast them a watery smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh darling," Caroline wrapped her arms around her, holding her close as Regina hugged her back, she basked in her future mother-in-law's kindness and hoped to god that they didn't get hurt too much when everything came to an end.


	6. Party Preparation

**Hi! Sorry about the delay with this chapter, I know it's short but its only really a filler before the next chapter. We also see some development of feelings, hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Once they had finished shopping and Regina had reluctantly allowed Caroline to buy the dress, she tried on they returned to the house to get ready for Roland's birthday party. She was feeling somewhat nervous because she knew that she would be introduced to not only the rest of Robin's family but friends as well. She didn't really do all that well in social settings and it was worrying her, for some reason she wanted to make a good impression, almost as if it actually mattered what they thought of her.

It should do, she and Robin weren't a real thing, it shouldn't matter to her. But it did. It really did, she wanted people to like her, or to at the very least tolerate her presence, she didn't know if it were for Robin's sake or for her own. She felt the need to impress everyone, even if there was a high chance that she would probably never see the people again.

As soon as they were through the door, she spotted Robin and the only way to describe what he was doing was lurking. He wasn't directly in the hallway as such, more spying around the corning of the sitting room, watching them from a distance. Regina rolled her eyes as she pulled off her heeled boots before thanking the two women for taking her shopping and heading over in his direction. "What are you creeping around for?"

"Just checking that you made it back in one piece."

"Of course I did, why wouldn't I?"

"Thought maybe after a couple of hours with my mother and grandmother you might have made a break for it. Caught the next train out of here back to London."

"Oh, and I bet you would have been overjoyed should I have done that."

"I dunno, you have a certain charm about you, plus you've given me a good cover girlfriend story to mask the fact that I am in fact a single loner living in a shitty minuscule London apartment, eating a diet of pot noodle and pasta. I swear my quality of life is worse than that of a student."

"Pot noodle?" she scoffed, turning her nose up as the two of them walked into the kitchen and Robin flicked the kettle on. "You do know that's probably a ticket to a faster death. I heard that there is something added to them which forces the stomach to keep the food down otherwise you would just throw up."

"What? That's not true."

"It's science, Robin. I read it in the paper the other week, there are so many additives. What happened to healthy food? You're a scientist you should know better than to eat that shit."

"Geez Regina, it was one comment. Maybe when we get back home you can teach me how to make proper noodles then."

"Happily, trust me, if you want to prolong your life span cut the pot noodle," she shuddered. She had never had one in her life and had no clue what it tasted like, but she didn't really want to find out. She was a doctor of science; she knew that they weren't particularly good for the body. "I'll teach you how to make a Chinese stir-fry in a quick and healthy way."

"Well, it seems I have my own version of Nigella Lawson on my hands. Though I'm pretty sure that this morning you told me that you couldn't cook."

"Oh I can cook, I just can't bake all that well, I haven't really got the time to try so I don't."

"Okay then, how was your morning out? I know the pair of them can be a bit full on when they are together, I hope they didn't scare you away too much."

"No, they were wonderful. I just wasn't expecting some of the things that happened that's all."

"Well, I'm glad that the time you spent with them wasn't awful."

"Robin, I feel I should apologise to you for this morning. Some of the things I said were uncalled for, I was just unsure, maybe nervous even, about being along with your family. I don't want them to hate me and I guess a part of me was thinking that without you there to push me along, maybe they wouldn't understand who I am… I just…"

"I don't need you to apologise, Regina, I get it, you were nervous to meet the in-laws, it's understandable."

"Well thank you, for being understanding."

"If anything, I should be the one apologising to you. I haven't been fair to you in the past couple of days. I guess I was still angry at you for not giving me much of a choice than to go along with all this. I know now that it is the best thing to do and I really want to help you out."

"You want to help me out or you want the promotion I offered you?"

"Both, but Regina, I'm really not heartless. As much as I might complain about you, you're good at your job and as much as you may think it might, it wouldn't make me happy to see you leave."

"Well, I think that's the nicest thing you have ever said to me. Also, I think you might be the only one in the department who has that mindset if people knew that I was in danger of being deported I think they would most likely be booking my flights home for me."

"Regina…"

"They hate me, Robin, I already know they do," she whispered looking to the ground. It was hard sometimes to think about, she knew that it was probably her own fault that they did hate her. She was standoffish and liked to get her own way, she was a hard but fair boss and some people didn't like that. They wanted her to be soft and easy going, but that just wasn't her, it wasn't who she was. She wasn't a people person; she never had been and she never would be.

"Hey, no, they don't hate you…"

"Don't even bother denying it, as I said, I already know. Anyway, we're here to take a break away from work so…"

"I never would have thought that I would hear you say those words! Breakaway from work? Are you alright? Would you like a sit-down? Maybe you're ill."

"Haha," she rolled her eyes, watching him chuckle at her, "don't you think you've dragged the workaholic gag out far enough now? It's getting boring."

"Oh, well I'd hate to bore you," he grinned, "come on, we can go find the others and see what they're up to before getting ready for the party tonight."

"Hmm, alright." She followed him out of the kitchen, heading back the way they came before heading towards the sitting room. That was when she caught a glance of a room she hadn't been in yet and stopped in her tracks, she pushed the door further open and gasped in surprise.

"Hey, why'd you… oh, that's the reception room."

"You have a grand piano?" It was sitting there in the bay window with the natural light shining through almost acting as a spotlight.

"Yeah, my mother forced us to have lessons when we were younger, she said it kept us out of trouble," he chuckled.

She stepped into the room, walking closer to the beautiful instrument, allowing her fingers to run over the black-painted wood. "It's beautiful," Regina whispered, perching on the stool and gently touching the keys.

"It probably doesn't really get played, I was the only one to really keep up with my playing, everyone else gave up and mum was left with that in there, she said it was a good feature in this room. How about you, do you know how to spin a tune."

She hummed and nodded her head, she really wanted to play it but felt shy all of sudden. She didn't like to play in front of an audience, no one really knew about her love for playing, she kept it to herself. Ever since she had been made to learn how to play whilst at boarding school, she had held a passion for it. It was one of the things she filled the little spare time she had with. It relaxed her, she found it soothing, when she was younger she would sneak away to the music room and play for hours just to escape in the music.

"Really?"

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?"

"So, you can properly play? Not just chopsticks, that doesn't count."

"I can play properly, including chopsticks and probably most classical pieces. I've been playing the piano since I was four years old."

"Wow. Go on then."

"No."

"How am I supposed to believe you if you don't play something for me."

"I don't play in front of people," she shook her head, "it's just not something I do."

"I don't think you can play."

"I can!"

"Prove it."

"Robin."

"Prove it to me."

She took a deep breath and cast him a menacing glare, she didn't like playing in front of people but she also really wanted to prove him wrong and show him that she could play. "fine, but you can't watch, turn around."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! Turn around, I can't do it with you watching me I get too nervous and I'll mess up."

"Okay, but I know what that piano sounds like so you can't play something off your phone and pass it off as you playing, I'd know."

"As if, you can't even compare the sound of a real piano to the version played from a phone," Regina scoffed. She couldn't believe that he thought she was dumb enough to do something like that. "Right, turn around."

"Do you need some sheet music?"

"I think I'm good thanks," she shrugged, she knew quite a lot of pieces off the top of her head and she didn't need to look at music to remember them. "You're still not turned around."

"I'm turning."

"Good," she watched him for a moment, making sure that he was doing as he was told. He had his back to her and she took a deep breath before staring at the keys, the piano was a little bigger than the one she had in her apartment back in London but around the same size as the one at her parent's house and the one she had learnt to play on at boarding school.

She wasn't sure what she should play, she wanted to impress him, but also wanted to make sure that she hit every note and remembered the entire song. There had been some pieces she'd been learning recently but she wasn't going to do one of those, instead, she opted for something she had learnt years ago and had since mastered. Clair De Lune by Debussy. It was a classic and so peacefully relaxing.

She took one last glance at Robin and before he could make a comment about her taking her time she began to play. A soon as her fingers touched the keys, they took on a life of their own, gliding across the white tiles to hit the notes they needed to as if on instinct, knowing which ones to press. She heard Robin's sharp intake of breath and she guessed he was shocked that she had actually been telling the truth.

A smile played on her lips as she got into it, her eyes closing as she felt the notes, remembering the path her fingers needed to follow off by heart. She felt the music running through her veins and became lost in it. She was so lost in the sound that when she finally finished it was to a round of clapping that wasn't just from Robin. She opened her eyes and found that the rest of his family must have heard her playing and come in to listen also, not to mention they were all now staring at her.

"Oh."

"Wow," Robin shook his head, "when you said you could play, I was expecting something…"

"Simple? You should know by now that I never do things by halves Robin," she grinned, standing up from the seat and clearing her throat. She felt somewhat awkward with everyone's eyes on her.

"You're amazing."

"Thank you," she whispered, offering him a small smile.

"Can you play something modern though, something good?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow. Leaning on the piano as she challenged her.

"Debussy is good!" Regina protested, "though Tchaikovsky is probably my favourite composer."

"Hmm, still old."

"You want something new?" Regina grinned with a shake of the head as she sat down on the stool once again, she was going to give the blonde what she wanted. She was slightly nervous but also ready for the challenge, "maybe you'll recognise this one." She allowed her fingers to run across the keys once again, speeding over the white and black tiles, pressing all the right notes to play the tune she wished to play.

"Shit, she's good!" Emma laughed, "also she's Game of Thrones? Seems she's a keeper Robin."

After the first part Regina dropped her hands from the piano, she didn't want to be the centre of attention any more. "The game of thrones soundtrack is really something, the composition of the music is breath-taking."

"I just had a wonderful idea!"

Regina looked up at Robin's mother who was practically hopping up and down on the spot, "the two of you should play together tonight at the party, as a surprise for your grandfather."

Regina's eyes widened as she glanced at Robin and started to shake her head, "I don't think so… I wouldn't…"

"Oh come on dear! It would be wonderful and he would simply love it. Robin what do you think?" the older woman moved closer, grasping his hands, "please. Do it for your grandfather?"

Regina was watching him nervously; she didn't know if she was up to performing in front of everyone who was going to be at the party. She hoped that Robin wouldn't just say yes but his mother could be very persuasive as she had already found out earlier that day. "I think it's up to Regina actually, I'm not going to force her. If she says yes, I'll do it."

"I'm not sure if I can," she whispered so only Robin could hear, "I think I'd probably freeze up."

"You'll be great, I know it. We can do this; it'll prove to them that we're a real couple and that we can be in sync."

She bit down on her bottom lip mulling over her options, she didn't see any other alternative without upsetting his mother and that was the last thing she wanted to do. "I suppose we could play a short piece if you think your grandfather would enjoy it."

"I'm sure he will love it! We'll get out of your hair and leave the two of you to practice."

Emma grinned at them before laughing and leaving with her mother, "good luck with that."

Once they were left alone in the room Regina turned to look at Robin and shook her head, "what the hell are we going to do?" she breathed. She had never played in front of anyone before never mind with someone, "I don't know any duet pieces. Do you?"

"Umm, no, not that I can recall, none that you would be able to learn in…" he glanced at his watch to check the time before looking back at her with a somewhat worried expression, "four hours, and that is leaving no time to get ready."

"We're screwed, Robin."

"I'm sure we'll manage something. How about Moonlight Sonata? We could split it into sections. Or we could do a Tchaikovsky mash up, merge them and blend them into one another, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and what about some Rachmaninoff's Theme of Paganini to finish it off."

"Oh, I love that one!" Regina gushed with a grin.

"You know it then?"

"Of course! It's the theme for one of my favourite films."

"Somewhere In Time?"

"Yes! I love it, it's so great," she gushed, feeling her cheeks flush at her admission. She'd just admitted to her favourite film being a soppy romance.

"It is a good film, though I can't say I can imagine you liking it. I'd have expected you to think it was soppy and cliché."

"No, quite the opposite, the ending is shocking, if you read the book though you find out that the whole film is pretty much a hoax."

"Anyway, I think we should put The Nutcracker first, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy's obviously, then Swan Lake followed by Paganini."

"Okay, whatever you think boss. Shall we get started? I think we have a lot of practising to do."

"Yes, we certainly do," she nodded, smiling at him as she perched back on the piano bench, scooting over to provide space from him. Maybe this was what they needed, a little bonding time to bring them closer together. They were either going to master the task or drive each other crazy trying.

* * *

In the end, it had turned out to be a little bit of both, it had been frustrating trying to get the melodies right and make sure that they worked well together. However, after two and a half hours of flat out piano playing and nearly twenty-five run-throughs, they were both bored of hearing it, even if it did sound almost perfect.

Robin hadn't taken very long to get dressed and he had been out of the room for a good while, waiting in the sitting room with the rest of the family before they set off to the party venue. Regina had no idea how many people were going but she guessed that it must be a fair few considering they weren't just holding the party at their house.

It had taken her quite a long time to get ready, but then again she was a perfectionist when it came to how she looked, just like her mother had been, she knew that was definitely where that trait came from. Looking in the mirror she checked over her makeup, she had opted for smoky black eyes with bright red lips, her hair was styled into sleek waves that just about brushed her shoulders.

As for her outfit, that consisted of a deep red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, stopping just above the knee, paired with black heels that made her look much taller than she actually was which was a bonus because without them she felt rather short.

After another check in the full-length mirror, she took a deep breath and headed downstairs to join the rest of Robin's family, she hoped that they weren't all waiting for her, she was nervous enough as it was without the added pressure of being last to finish getting ready.

She'd just reached the bottom step when she almost collided with Robin, "hey, sorry, were you all waiting?"

"No, I was just coming to check if you were… wow," he gasped, stopping in his tracks and staring at her, "you look gorgeous."

"You don't have to say that I…"

"Fuck, Regina don't put yourself down, you look amazing."

Regina realised that he was somewhat transfixed by her, she didn't really know what to make of it, sure they could probably class each other as friends now, but the way he was looking at her made shivers run down her spine. Having his eyes on her was an intense feeling and she could feel something bubbling up in her stomach, something she hadn't felt before whilst in his presence, it was strange but she kinda liked it. "Thank you, you're not too bad yourself you know."

"Really?"

"Hmm. I think that might be the first time we have ever paid one another a compliment," she chuckled, shaking her head. It was weird how comfortable she was beginning to feel around him, sure she had been before, he was her assistant and they had been close, but it wasn't the same, this was something different.

"Well, maybe that's a step in the right direction," he grinned, offering her his hand, "shall we?"

Regina eyed him for a moment, considering whether she should take it or not. They hadn't held hands before, but she knew that it would be good for appearances and there was part of her that wanted to, she wanted to find out what it would feel like to have his hand wrapped around hers. Their fingers had brushed against each other whilst they played but it wasn't the same, that had been an accident, this was intentional. Without thinking much more, she slipped her hand into his before grinning up at him.

It felt nice, really nice.

"Come on," Robin pulled her gently towards the sitting room.

"Oh, don't you too make a beautiful couple! That dress is simply gorgeous on you my dear," Caroline gushed as she stood from the couch, there was a huge beaming smile on her face and Regina could see that the fact Robin had someone made his mother happy. "Your father has gone to pick up your grandparents so we can get on the way now. Come along my beauties, we have a party to get to." With that, she left towards the front door, her flora dress swishing as she went.

"You ready for this?" Robin whispered, his fingers caressing gently over her hand.

She took a deep breath and nodded, "hmm, ready as I'll ever be."


	7. Happy Birthday

**Its been ages! I know, I apologise and hope you enjoy this chapter. Let's hope it's not as long until the next update. :) **

* * *

The drive to the venue wasn't a long one, the party was being held in the quaint village hall but Regina could already tell that there were a lot of people there. It almost seemed as though the entire village had turned out and it wasn't something she had been expecting, she thought that it'd only be a few friends and the family, but clearly, she was wrong. Now she was certainly feeling the pressure and it was totally overwhelming.

Regina glanced at Robin, only to find that he was already looking at her, "that's a lot of people."

"You want to back out? Tell me now and I'll tell my mum that we're not doing it."

"I don't want to let her down."

"Regina, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable and if that is going to happen then we'll call it off, people would understand."

Regina sighed and shook her head; she knew that wasn't really an option even if she wanted nothing more than to jump at the chance. She hated being the centre of attention at the best of times and with her being Robin's new mysterious fiancé, this was just going to bring more attention her way. By the end of the night, she had a horrible feeling that she would be the talk of the party and that was the last thing she wanted. "We'll be fine right? We know what we're doing."

"Do you know how weird it is for me to see you like this?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at him, trying to work out what he was meaning.

He simply grinned and shook his head, "let's just say I'm used to seeing you all put together, so this flustered thing is new to me. Though I suppose I've been seeing this side of you for the last couple of weeks."

"Shut up," she huffed, rolling her eyes as she opened the car door and climbed out. She should have known that he would have made some comment like that one. She knew that he was right though, she was usually composed and she had been all over the place lately.

Robin soon followed her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, "got to act the part," he winked.

Regina just grumbled under her breath a little as they made their way inside. The hall was much bigger on the inside than it had appeared from its exterior, a little like the Doctor's Tardis, if the Doctor's Tardis were filled with what she guessed was over one hundred people, not to mention all the decorations that covered the walls and she was pretty sure there was a net filled with balloons on the ceiling. She thought it was a 90th birthday party, not a high school prom. "Let me guess, your mother's idea?" she asked, looking up at the balloon.

"Actually no, that one would be Emma. The last time mum was put on balloon duty she ordered them with helium instead of air and when the net was dropped the balloons just swayed about the ceiling."

Regina sniggered, shaking her head as she turned to look at him, "are you being serious? She really did that?"

"Yes, there are photo's if you want to see them."

"I think I'll have to take a look at those later."

He smirked at her before leading them through the packed room, which somehow was still admitting guests, she wasn't sure the hall could fit any more.

"Who are all these people?"

"My granddad is a popular guy," Robin chuckled, "he has his church friends, army pals, mates from the pub, ex-work colleagues and the entire village."

"He really invited the entire village?"

"Probably, surprisingly he loves a party."

"Oh god," she breathed. Biting down on her bottom lip as she spotted where the piano was situated. There was a small stage at the far end of the hall and sitting there proudly was the piano. They would have to play up there in front of all the random strangers in the packed-out hall and she was terrified.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Look, your grandfather is here," she smiled, gesturing to the entrance where Robin's father and grandparents had just arrived, "you should go and greet them."

"Come with me."

"I think I might go and get a drink actually; you go and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, go," she nodded, pushing him gently, not sure what the expression on his face was, she hadn't seen it before. He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before doing as she had instructed and walking over to his family. Once she was alone, she made her way towards the refreshments table and upon spotting a bottle of vodka poured herself a double before hurrying behind the curtain that she guessed led to the stage. Spotting a door there she opened it and found herself outside the back of the building.

She took a deep breath as she moved further out and leant against the wooden balustrade so that she could look out across the valley at the setting sun. It really was beautiful and very nice to get out of the stuffy hall for a few moments. She'd not even been inside for more than ten minutes and had already been feeling claustrophobic.

"Bit overwhelming in there isn't it," an unfamiliar voice chuckled.

Regina turned her head to see a brunette in a purple dress coming towards her with a drink of her own. The woman couldn't have been much younger than she was, with her lips painted in a similar red shade. Regina had no idea who she actually was but it was nice to have someone who seemed to be on the same wavelength. "Just a little. I'm glad for the fresh air. You don't get air like this in London."

"You're from London then?"

"Not originally no," she shook her head, looking back ahead of her as the woman reached her and leant against the wooden fence beside her.

"American?"

"Hmm. I guess you could say I'm not one for busy parties with strangers."

"Try busy parties with a room full of people you know," the woman chuckled, "that's got to be worse, people coming up to you twenty-four-seven asking questions about your life. _'What is it you're doing now? Are you seeing anyone? How's your life?'_"

"I can imagine that would be tedious," Regina grinned, taking a sip of the vodka in her glass and wincing at the strength of it. She had a feeling she was going to like this woman with no name. "Though luckily I don't go home too often, so I don't have the pleasure of experiencing that."

"Best way to be if you ask me. So, who did you come to the party with?"

She thought about her answer for a moment before giving the one everyone thought was the truth, "I'm with my fiancé, it's his grandfather's birthday party and quite honestly, I think the old man hates me."

"Roland? He hates anyone who dates his grandsons or granddaughters, trust me on that one. I can't believe Graham finally decided to settle down."

"Oh, I'm not engaged to Graham," she winced with a shake of the head, Robin would be fuming if he had heard that comment. It was bad enough when he thought she had been flirting with his brother.

"No way! There's no way David decided to re-marry! I always thought he and his goody-two-shoes ex-wife would end up back together."

"It's not David either, thank goodness. I'm engaged to Robin."

There was a sudden smash as the woman beside her dropped the glass that had been in her hand, Regina turned to look at her once again, furrowing her eyebrows as she took in the shock on her face. "Robin?"

"Yes, Robin."

"Oh, well, I suppose that was the least obvious of the whole bunch."

"Whys that? We both live in London."

"I dunno, but now you mention it that does make sense. Well if you excuse me, I should be getting back inside."

"Wait, I thought we were having a nice conversation."

"We were and now I have to go back inside, see you later."

With that she scurried off leaving Regina stood there in complete confusion as she brought her glass to her lips again, taking another gulp of the alcohol. That was weird, it was almost as if she'd just completely freaked out at the mention of Robin, maybe she just knew him from school or something, Regina couldn't have been sure. She would have done a little more digging if she hadn't been so quick to run away.

She looked back out at the view in front of her, they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, all she could see were fields and forests. There were rolling hills as far as the eye could see and around the other side of the hall she knew they led out towards the moorland. It was idyllic but also a little daunting, she wasn't used to places being so quiet. Even with the noise from the party inside, outside, there was virtual silence.

"Trying to escape?"

A grin edged onto her lips as she drank some more vodka, "seems I'm penned in," she quipped, gesturing to the wooden balcony.

"Yeah, I wouldn't advise climbing over that unless you want to be chased by more cows, not that you were chased the first time."

"Okay, very funny," she chuckled, turning to lean against the railing so that she could see him, "missing me Locksley?"

"You wish Mills, I couldn't see you inside and guessed you'd come out here. Need the fresh air?"

"Yes, I suppose I better make the most of it before we return to the dirty air of London, it's nice to not have to breathe in pollution isn't it?" Regina sniggered, watching him as he stepped towards her, taking the glass from her fingers and sniffing it, "I was drinking that."

"Drinking straight vodka? You really must be bricking it about this performance," he laughed, taking his own swig from the glass.

"Bricking it?"

"It means scared or nervous."

"I see and no, I'm sure I'll be just fine. Shall we go back inside?"

"Yeah, we better. My mother is looking for you. I think she's a little obsessed with you."

"Your mother is amazing." It wasn't often she said that about people, but Caroline had earned that title, she really was the nicest woman Regina had ever met. "Now, can we go and get this performance over and done with please?"

"Sure," he offered her his hand and she eyed him up suspiciously, "come on, for image's sake."

"Fine," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she locked her fingers with his and they walked back inside. Instead of moving through the curtain into the main area of the hall Robin tugged her towards the steps that led to the stage. "Really?"

"You said you wanted to get it over with."

"Yes I know I said that but I…"

"You're scared."

"No, not scared, I'm just… worried you're going to mess up and make us both look incompetent."

"Don't worry I'm more than competent when it comes to my finger work," he winked before pulling her up the stairs with him and straight onto the stage. She found herself hiding behind him a little, hoping that he would just disguise her completely, but Robin just moved away from her and shoved her gently so that she was standing beside him. He reached for the microphone which was situated in the centre of the stage and Regina cringed at the noise of feedback rippling through the hall.

The music quietened down and everyone turned to look at them, the entirety of the hall had their eyes trained at the stage and Regina thought she might throw up right there and then. There must have been at least one hundred and fifty people there.

"Hi everyone, I just wanted to wish my grandad the happiest of birthdays, I'm glad you could all be here with us to celebrate. My fiancé and I have a small surprise, grandad, this is for you."

She heard various reactions when Robin had informed everyone that she was his fiancé, most of them probably had no idea who she was until he told them and now, they had something to say about it. She spotted the brunette she had been talking to earlier hovering around the drinks table and didn't know what to make of it, she wanted to ask Robin who she was but now wasn't the time for that, she would have to do it later.

"Come on," he tugged gently on her hand, leading her over to the piano. She went along rather reluctantly and perched on her side of the stool as he took up his own, "are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she whispered, listening as Robin counted them in. There was no going back, she was doing this, she needed to focus on the music and not on the people who were watching them. As soon as Robin had finished counting them in she was off, her fingers gliding over the keys as she played the opening tune ready for Robin to join in, it all rested on his making his cue, if he didn't, the whole piece would be thrown off.

She played seamlessly but was happy when Robin finally decided to join her, it seemed as though she had been going for ages. However as soon as Robin started playing it began to get interesting, she chuckled as her fingers moved over his when she had to go over him to press the keys she needed. He grinned at her as they carried on going, seeming to pick up speed as they went, filling the hall with the noise of the piano.

There was something about playing with Robin which made her nerves disappear, he had a funny way of doing that to her. Yet at the same time, those butterflies swam in her stomach, but for completely different reasons. The piece was playing out wonderfully, her fingers were aching but she knew that they were almost done and she would be happy to get down from the stage. Once they reached the end, she wriggled her fingers and stretched them out as she looked up at Robin.

"You are amazing," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her as the party guests clapped. She was rather caught off guard by his forwardness but leant into the hug nevertheless, it was nice to feel his arms around her.

"You're not too bad yourself." She smiled at him as she pulled back from the embrace, her eyes meeting his, "we should probably get down from here now that's over and done with."

"Definitely, I could do with a drink."

"Me too," Regina laughed, standing from the stool as he took her hand once again and helped her back down the stairs. He didn't let go of her as they approached his grandfather who seemed to be beaming with pride.

"You were wonderful my boy! Absolutely marvellous," the old man wrapped his arms around his grandson, Regina retracted her hand and clasped it with her other as she watched the exchange. She was glad that what they had done had pleased his grandfather and hoped that maybe it would get her one step closer to winning his approval.

"We're happy you liked it, though Regina did most of the work putting the set together," Robin quipped as he glanced her way, she offered him a small smile in return.

"Well thank you, Regina, that was very thoughtful of you," he grinned, making the smile on her face grow in size as pride bloomed inside her. That had been the first genuine smile he had ever shown her and she was going to revel in the moment.

"You are very welcome."

"You young ones enjoy the party now, I see old Jim over there and must say hello."

"I'll see you later grandad," Robin nodded as they watched the old man walk away from them towards another man who was stood at the other side of the hall. Once they were alone Robin looked back at her with a smirk playing on his face, "I think he might be coming around to you."

"What does that mean?" she scoffed playfully as they walked towards the drinks station, she knew he was just teasing her. She had known full well that his grandfather hadn't been all the struck on her at first.

"Trust me it takes him a while to get to like people."

"Hmm, the woman I was talking to outside told me as much."

"Who was it you were speaking to?" he asked, pouring a couple of drinks for them and handing her one.

"I didn't catch her name actually, she seemed to rush off when I told her that I was engaged to you. I don't know what her problem was," Regina rolled her eyed. She also looked around to see if she could spot the woman in order to point her out to Robin but she didn't seem to be anywhere.

"That's strange, maybe she was jealous that I was going to be off the market," Robin grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her in a way that made her give him a quick shove.

"Hmm, bet you're upset about that one. What would you be doing at this party right now if I wasn't here with you?"

"I wouldn't have been allowed to come to this party because my boss is a slave driver and if it hadn't been for her citizenship and me blackmailing her, she probably wouldn't have let me out of the lab."

"Shut up," she scoffed, "I would have. Do you really think me to be that heartless as to let you miss your own grandfather's birthday?"

"I'm joking Regina."

"No you weren't though were you, that's what you were actually thinking."

"That's not it, I just mean that we spend quite a few weekends in the lab. I know that you wouldn't have made me work this weekend."

She took a deep breath, she knew he was joking but it had hit a nerve so to speak, she had never even realised she was doing it before. She had been so passionate about her work and she figured that he was too and that he wouldn't mind the overtime, but now she was realising that maybe he just wasn't like her, he probably longed for a work-free weekend. She was a really shitty boss and she hadn't even known until that moment. He still wasn't going to get her to admit to being in the wrong. Not yet anyhow.

A comeback had been on the tip of her tongue just as she spotted the mystery woman coming in from outside with Graham following behind her. "Look there, with your brother."

"What?" he turned and she watched as his face fell and he stared at the woman, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Shit."

"What is it?" she asked, trying to see what it was that he saw whilst she didn't. He didn't answer her question though, instead, he just downed the drink that was in his hand before pouring himself another and taking her hand, leading her towards the table where David was already sitting talking to a woman with short dark hair. "Robin."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," he smiled at her but she could see that it wasn't genuine and she certainly wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"Robin seriously who is…"

"Oh my goodness! You're Robin's fiancé!" The brunette who had been sat with David cut off Regina's sentence with what Regina could only describe as an excited squeal. The woman wore a pale pink sweater over the top of a crisp white shirt, that was paired with a navy skirt and the word that came to Regina's mind had to be preppy. "It's so good to meet you, David told me that you were staying at the house."

"Well, here I am," Regina flashed her a fake smile as she took a sip from the glass of wine Robin had poured for her.

"Wow. You didn't tell me how pretty she was David," she scolded, smacking him lightly in a way that she might as well have not bothered with it at all. If Regina was going to playfully smack Robin, she would make sure that he felt it. "I'm Mary Margaret."

"Oh, David's teen bride?" Regina asked, hearing Robin snort into his wine and David almost choke on his own drink. The woman herself seemed to turn a deep shade of red as she cleared her throat and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

"You heard about that? Well, it was a long time ago and we were really young at the time…"

"Don't worry about explaining yourself to me, I get it, you were young and in love and wanted to spend the rest of your lives together, then realised you had barely even had time to discover yourselves."

"That's exactly what it was!" Mary Margaret gushed in agreement. Regina had felt guilty for embarrassing the woman, not that she would apologise to her for it, she just tried to make her feel better instead. "I always feel that David's family have hated me ever since."

"I told you they don't," David shook his head, finding her hand and holding it in his.

Regina rose an eyebrow as she looked to Robin who wasn't really paying attention to the conversation going on at their table, he was watching the mysterious woman across the hall who was stood talking to a group of people in the corner. "These two are totally fucking," Regina whispered in his ear, jolting him out of his daydream as he turned to look back at her.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's obvious," she murmured. "So, what is it that you do Mary?"

"I'm a primary school teacher at the local school. I just love working with the kids and helping them to learn," she smiled.

"Oh I love children," Regina nodded.

"Woah, hold up. You what?" Robin laughed, shaking his head as he looked at her in surprise. It also seemed as though she had all of his attention finally.

"I like kids."

"Since when? I don't think I have ever seen you interact with children. In fact, when the big boss from HR asked you if you would be willing to go to a school to do a science talk, I remember you saying that you hated kids and wouldn't ever want to do that."

"I don't hate kids Robin," she snapped narrowing her eyes at him, "I just…"

"You said that."

She glared at him in a warning not to carry on in the direction he was going, she wasn't having this conversation in front of others. There had been a reason why she hadn't wanted to do that talk but she wasn't about to tell him here so instead she decided to ignore him. "What grade do you teach?"

"Well, I take the year three class, the children are seven and eight-year-olds. Anyway, enough about me, I hear that you work with Robin in some kind of science."

"Yes, we work on developing new medicines and discovering cures for diseases, things like that."

"Wow! That's impressive."

"Thank you, it's certainly rewarding, but I guess in a different way than teaching children to read and write would be," she smiled. She could see that even David looked impressed to hear what it was that she actually did. She wondered if Robin hadn't told his brother specifically what his job was.

"Hey guys!" a voice called as a familiar blonde took a seat at the table. She was wearing a neon pink dress and had her hair in bouncing long curls.

"Hi Emma," Mary Margaret smiled, awkwardly looking down at the table and Regina raised an eyebrow at her response, she wondered why, all of a sudden, the woman had gone all shy. A moment ago, she had been gushing and talking about things, now she had gone quiet and wouldn't meet Emma's eye.

"So, why don't you have any proper drinks?"

"We are not getting drunk at grandad's birthday party," David shook his head.

Regina knew that Emma was now looking at her and grinning, "Regina? You're up for it right?"

"Hmm, I don't know about that one." She contemplated it for a moment, seeing the disapproving look Robin's eldest brother was giving her and she knew that she was going to have to go with Emma on this one. What could really go wrong? "l suppose, but only a light buzz."

"Yes! God I'm so glad I finally found someone in this family willing to have fun with me!"

"Regina are you sure about this?" Robin asked.

"Don't worry baby, I'm sure it'll all be fine," she grinned, patting his cheek playfully before standing up and going along with Emma towards the alcohol. "Thanks for that."

"No worries, looked like you needed saving from that dullness."

"How did you know?"

"Trust me, more than five minutes with David and Mary is enough to drive anyone insane," Emma sniggered, pouring herself a large helping of vodka before grabbing a couple of bottles, "come on, let's go outside."

"Okay," Regina nodded, going along with her out the back door and onto the balcony she had been stood on earlier that night. They found a bench and both flopped down into it, it was dark now and she couldn't see anything past the edge of the fence that was illuminated by the dim outside lights. A small fire was going in the courtyard providing a little heat to fight against the cool night air.

"Heres to having fun!" the blonde smirked.

"To having fun."

* * *

An hour later and Robin had joined them outside along with a few other people, Regina was beginning to feel a little drunk now though and knew that it was probably a good idea for her to stop drinking otherwise she would have one killer of a hangover in the morning. She put her drink down on the table and shook her head, "I'm just going to pop to the bathroom."

"Don't break the seal!" Emma giggled. She was considerably drunker than Regina was which was quite clear from the way she was acting. Mary Margaret had joined them for a few moments before Emma said something and she hurried back in like a wounded puppy with David quick on her heels.

"I don't even know what that means," she chuckled, rolling her eyes at her newfound friend before heading back inside. The music was still going; however, the songs had changed to older ones and a lot of the elderly guests were on the dance floor. Regina smiled as she spotted Roland and June dancing together, they were the most adorable couple she had ever seen.

She just watched them for a while, standing by the side taking in their happiness and feeling a swell of emotions bubble up inside. For her, there hadn't ever been two people more in love than Robin's grandparents, she had never seen anything like it in her life.

"Beautiful isn't it."

Startled, she turned to see Caroline stood beside her, she hadn't even realised she was there so it had been quite the surprise. "They look so peaceful."

"They've always been like that."

"Really?"

"Hmm, ever since I first met them. I'd often wondered what I had to do to get my relationship to be that perfect. I don't think I've ever witnessed them have an argument."

"Wow."

"I know, can't be bad right? Myself and Robin's father used to argue all the time, we still do. That doesn't mean our love isn't any less passionate than there's. Just like you and Robin, I guess. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age."

"Do I?" she swallowed the lump in her throat as she met Caroline's blue eyes.

"Yes, you're stubborn and I like that, you make Robin work for it and god knows that is what he needs! He needs someone to challenge him and push him to be the person I know he is. He's different you know, since the last time I saw him, there's just something in his eyes, some kind of sparkle. You put that there."

Regina offered her a tight smile; she didn't know what his mother was seeing in his eyes but it certainly wasn't out of affection for her. He wasn't her biggest fan and he certainly didn't love her. "Well I'm glad about that. I'm sorry, I just need the bathroom so…"

"Of course," the blonde woman nodded, walking away and finding her husband, forcing him to dance with her.

She took a deep breath before heading off in the direction of the toilets which she found were located down some stairs and underneath the building. People were queuing up the stairs waiting to go and she was literally crossing her legs as the line slowly progressed.

"Hey, sorry I walked off earlier."

Regina turned her head to see the mysterious brunette behind her in the line, "hi, don't worry about it. I had been meaning to come back in anyway."

"I saw you play, you and Robin make a good team."

"I like to think so." She didn't know who this person was, but she wanted to find out. "So I saw you with Graham a little while ago."

"Oh it wasn't what it looked like."

"What did it look like?" Regina asked, tilting her head as she studied the woman through the slight alcoholic gaze she had going on. She hadn't been thinking anything of what she had seen but now it sounded as though she had some reason to.

"Nothing, Graham and I are just friends. He isn't the Locksley brother that I'm after."

"Oh well, if you're after David I'm afraid the little woodland sprite might have beaten you to it," she chuckled. It was clear that David was still hung up on his ex-wife and it seemed as though the feeling was mutual.

"Not David actually."

"Wait… oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"Well, I don't really know what to say." This woman had some real nerve to say that. In fact, how dare she? Regina felt a mixture of both jealousy and anger well up inside her and if she wasn't so reserved she might not have bitten her tongue.

"You don't have to say anything I know you're engaged and…"

"Yes, we're engaged, so I don't really think that it was appropriate for you to say something like that."

"You don't get it though. I have known Robin my entire life, we grew up together and…"

"And I should care because? He's my fiancé and I really don't appreciate you saying that you are after him. Trust me I don't think he would be interested."

"Oh I think he might be, he was before, why should anything have changed."

Regina turned fully this time, facing her entire body towards the woman who had a smug smile playing on her lips, she was clearly trying to wind her up on purpose and she hated to admit it had worked and bothered her much more than it should have. "I think it might be time for you to stop talking, don't you?"

"You don't think I'm just going to let you marry the man I love, do you?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head; this was ridiculous and the woman needed to back the hell off. Also, the queue had now gone down and she was made aware of how tight her bladder was. "Do you know what I think? This is a pointless conversation and I don't wish to talk any more about it. If you don't mind, I think I'll be going for a pee now if it's all the same to you."

"Well, I'll see you around Regina."

"I don't even know your name but I suppose bye bitch will do for now." With that, she slammed the cubicle door and did her business.

* * *

**Bet you can guess who we all had the pleasure of meeting in this chapter. ;) Also, what is going on with MM and Emma? See you in the next chapter! **


	8. I Feel Like Dancing

**Hey guys! This chapter was inspired by a manip by CarolinaMR9, I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you thought!**

* * *

A couple of hours later and Regina was much drunker than she had intended to become, she found herself wrapped up in Robin's arms as they danced together with the rest of the guests. It had reached that point in the night where everyone cut loose a little and just had fun. Due to the alcohol, the edge had been taken off a little and she found that she was able to relax a lot easier, it was nice to just be able to let go and not have to worry what people were thinking about her.

"I don't know why but I never imagined you as a good dancer," she giggled as Robin swirled her under his arm, a grin edging onto his face as he looked at her.

"Why not? I'll have you know that I am a rather accomplished dancer."

"I always figured that you would have two left feet, though it seems I may have been wrong about that, you're rather alright."

"Why thank you, that's more than we can say for you then isn't," he teased.

She scoffed and prodded his chest with her finger, "I'll have you know that I was salsa champion back at boarding school thank you very much?"

"You went to boarding school?"

"Hmm," she nodded, realising that she had accidentally let that information slip, it hadn't been her intention, but now it seemed he knew her secret. What was the point in backtracking, he might not even remember in the morning from the way this party was going. "Yes, maybe that's why I such an awkward bitch, my parents shipped me off to a school two hundred miles away from home, they really had a way of making their daughter feel special."

"Shit, that's rough."

"Nothing I can do about it now, anyway, I don't want to dwell on the past. How is it that you can dance?"

"My grandmother used to dance with me in the kitchen," he stated, clearing his throat awkwardly. She could tell that he felt guilty about that confession after learning about an important part of her childhood. The look on his face told her that he was sorry that she'd grown up without her family around her whilst he'd had the complete opposite. His family had clearly been his whole world and it still was.

"Carry on."

"We would bake together and whilst they were in the oven we would dance to her records. What about you, did you ever do anything like that with your grandparents?"

"No, my father's parents died before I was born and my mother's didn't really pay any interest to me. Although one year I did go home with my friend Mal for a weekend and her grandparents were there, it was nice to see what it felt like. You are really lucky to be so close to yours."

"They are yours now too."

"Oh I suppose they are," she chuckled, biting on her bottom lip as she stared into his eyes. They were the most beautiful colour and she wasn't sure why she hadn't noticed before. She could almost get lost in the pools of blue, they were mesmerising. Her attention was stolen from his eyes by a music change, she grinned at him excitedly, "I love this one." She couldn't stop herself from bopping along to the music.

"Oh god, you really are terrible at dancing."

"I don't care," she shrugged, waiting for the lyrics to start before singing along, proving that she really was drunker than she first thought, she did not sing in public. In fact, she had never sung in front of anyone before and she really hadn't been planning on any of this happening. She was too far gone now to even try and stop.

I feel the night explode

When we're together

Emotion overload

In the heat of pleasure

Take me I'm yours

Into your arms

Never let me go

"Wow singing now as well, boss you really are full of surprises," he laughed as she grabbed his hand and forced him to dance with her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he began to sing along with her. She couldn't remember the last time she had really let loose and enjoyed herself, but this was panning out to be a night for the record books.

"I'm really having a wonderful time and I know this is all part of a deal, but I just want to think you for inviting me, you didn't have to. I really appreciate it."

"Steady on Regina, I think we've already had enough first for one night, we can't be having you being humble as well. I don't think I'll cope."

"Very funny," she rolled her eyes, carrying on moving in time with the beat. They were still dancing together when they accidentally bumped into someone else, causing the woman's drink to spill all over the front of Robin's shirt. "Oops," Regina chuckled, looking at the woman who seemed horrified, it turned out that it had been Mary Margaret who spilt the drink.

"Robin I'm so sorry!" she called over the music, "I really didn't mean to, your shirt, it's probably ruined."

"Don't worry about it," he shook his head.

Regina looked at him closely before grabbing his hand and pulling him through the crowd, they weaved in and out of the people who were dancing much like they had been. She led him to the back of the stage behind the curtain where it was just the two of them. Her fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, which was soaked with red wine, and she watched as his eyes winded.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking your shirt off, what does it look like?" she shrugged, carrying on with her task, her eyes never leaving his even for a moment. The music was more muffled there and she could almost hear his heavy breathing as he stared back at her. She was briefly aware that the song had changed to an old school ballad, like on they would play on cheesy romance movies. Once she'd reached the last of the buttons, her hands moved to his shoulders and she slipped his shirt off. "A vest huh?"

"Tank top," he chuckled.

"Oh, that's okay then," Regina grinned, allowing her fingers to move over his arms, feeling the muscles there. She licked her lips, she'd had no idea that he was so in shape, sure she knew he was attractive, but who knew that under his lab coat he was secretly ripped? God, what the hell was happening to her? It had been a long time since she had felt the urge to kiss someone, but she was really feeling it, looking at Robin made her want to kiss him. She wanted to know what his lips would feel like pressed against her own.

It was totally unprofessional, but then again, they were engaged. Would it really do any harm?

She felt herself take a step closer to him as her hand brushed over to press against his chest, she felt heat on her waist and her eyes left his for a moment to find his hands on either side of her. Maybe this feeling wasn't merely one-sided then. Could he feel it too? She didn't know, she was scared of rejection, but the pull was too much to handle.

Robin's eyes were on hers and she could tell he was trying to read her too, but she couldn't wait any longer, she needed to know what he tasted like. Needed the press of his lips, wanted to feel the brush of his stubble against her smooth skin. Taking a deep breath, she decided to go for it, leaning further in to meet him as he did the same. She could feel his warm breath run over her damp lips and her eyes fluttered closed in anticipation, she was so close, he was so close, mere millimetres away.

"There you are! I wondered where the two of you had run off to."

Regina caught her breath, pulling away from Robin quickly as he scrambled backwards and turned to see his mother peering around the curtain at them. The moment was ruined and Regina quickly felt like a fool, she also felt like a teenager attempting to fool around at prom and getting caught by the teacher.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Caroline asked, looking between them.

"No, not at all. Robin spilt on his shirt that's all, we were just dealing with it."

"Oh, I see. Well, I am going to drive your grandparents home, Robin, they are feeling tired now. I didn't know if the two of you were wanting to stay a little longer or if you were ready to go as well?"

"I think I'm ready to go now actually, thank you, Caroline," Regina nodded, she was embarrassed about what had happened and wanted to forget about it. She blamed the alcohol.

"Okay, if you're sure, we'll meet you out front in five."

"Sounds good."

"You're going back?" Robin asked once they were alone again, "I thought we were having a good time."

"We were, I think the alcohol has gone to my head now though, I should probably go back and try to sleep it off before I'm a hungover mess tomorrow." It was an excuse; she didn't even really feel that drunk anymore. It was weird how certain things could completely kill a buzz.

"Alright, I'll come home with you. Mum is probably coming back here anyway."

"If you want, you don't have to Robin, I want you to enjoy your night, I'll be fine on my own."

"Nah, I'm ready to go now too. Also, I know that if I let you go home alone, you'll steal the bed again."

"You know me well," she smirked, turning towards the curtain, "don't forget your shirt."

"I still don't get why you took it off in the first place, the stain is still there whether it's on me or not," Robin chuckled, picking up the soggy shirt from where she had dropped it to the floor.

If she was totally honest, she didn't really know what she was wanting to achieve by taking the shirt off, she had just wanted to do it so she did. "I was going to soak it in the sink or something. I'm not sure."

He rose an eyebrow, she knew he wasn't fooled, but he didn't say anything, he simply moved past her out of the room and into the hall where he began saying goodnight to everyone. She took a breath before following him out, trailing behind him similar to the way Meg had been following her around earlier that day.

"You better not be leaving." Regina turned to see Emma stood behind her with her arms folded over her chest, "I was hoping to get a dance in before you left. We haven't done oops upside your head yet!"

"I have no idea what that is."

"Oh my god! You've never done that dance before?! How?"

"I guess we don't do that in America."

"Robin! Your fiancé has never done oops upside your head."

"She doesn't want to either," he laughed, "I don't think it would be your type of thing. I can't really imagine you sitting on the floor with everyone doing that dance."

"Sitting on the floor?" Regina rose an eyebrow watched as the blonde's eyes widened as the music changed.

"Time warp!"

"No, now we're definitely out of here," Robin shook his head, his hand wrapped around Regina's.

"What on earth goes on at British parties?" Regina sniggered as she followed Robin outside, much to the protest of Emma who was busy dancing along to the music. The quiet of outside was nice on her ears, the music from inside blending into the background.

"People go a little crazy and do stupid dances they've been doing for the past thirty-odd years," he grinned as they leant against the railings outside, waiting for his grandparents and mother to come outside.

"Well, I have to admit I actually had fun tonight." She was aware that he was still holding her hand and she should pull away, but his skin was warming hers and she found it comforting, she wasn't willing to lose that just yet. Also, it would help with appearances anyway, so what was the harm?

"Wait, you actually had fun? You know what fun is?"

"Are you ever going to stop teasing me?"

"Never."

She rolled her eyes at him playfully, knocking her hip against his, "I do know what fun it for your information. You might be shocked to know this, but sometimes I am capable of having it, but shush don't let anyone else know," she giggled, leaning her forehead against his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"How drunk are you? On a scale of one to ten. Ten being literally legless and one being completely sober only drinking lemonade."

"I'd probably say a sold six maybe edging into a seven," she grinned, not looking up at him but maintaining her position using him as her personal pillow. "Aren't you cold? You haven't got a shirt on."

"Oh yeah, a beautiful woman took it off me earlier. No, I'm not too bad, but maybe it would be best to share body heat, you know just in case?"

"Are you trying it on with me?" she scoffed, finally deciding to meet his eyes. She wasn't sure if that was what he was doing or if he was just trying to be funny and thought if she got a better look at him, she might be able to work it out.

"I…"

"Right love birds, are we ready to get going?" Caroline asked as she came out of the building with Robin's grandparents in tow. She hadn't been drinking so she was able to drive them home, seemingly she would be the one on taxi duty later for quite a few people at the party.

"Yeah, we're ready," Robin nodded. "Did you have a fun time at your party Grandad?" he asked, looking to the elderly man as they all climbed into the car. His mother and grandfather in the front with the two of them and his grandmother squished into the back, Regina in the middle as she was the smallest.

"Yes thank you, my boy, it was also very enlightening."

"That's good, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Me too," Regina added finding herself scooting a little closer to Robin, their thighs pressing together due to the small confines of the car.

"Where did your shirt go Robin?" the elderly woman beside Regina asked, peering over at her grandson in the dark as Caroline started the car and they headed off in the direction of his grandparent's house.

"Mary Margaret spilt wine on it."

"Oh, David's teen bride," Roland quipped, causing Regina to laugh out loud. She couldn't control it; it was a quick burst of laughter that had just come from nowhere.

"I am so sorry, I just…"

"She's had a little too much to drink and we can blame Emma for that," Robin excused.

"I really am sorry, it's just I accidentally called her that to her face earlier."

"You did?" the old man turned to look at her, a mischievous smirk on his face. It was an expression that had her own lips tipping up at the edges.

"I didn't mean to, it just came out after what you said a couple of days ago."

"I bet she liked that one didn't she."

"She was so embarrassed and I felt awful," she didn't really, to be honest, she had a rather sadistic sense of humour and to see the woman's cheeks blush as they had, had been rather amusing for her.

"Don't feel awful, she's used to being embarrassed that one. Though she finds almost everything embarrassing."

"Dad, don't be nasty about her," Caroline tutted, though Regina could see in the mirror that there was a small smile on her lips. She didn't really get what was going on with the family and Mary Margaret but they clearly had some kind of history with her and she also had a feeling it went further than her marrying David when they were young and then getting a divorce.

"I'm not nasty about her, I'm just surprised she hasn't made her way further through my grandchildren."

"Dad hush yourself."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything else, my lips are sealed," he winked at Regina through the mirror and she grinned at him in return. Now she was more intrigued than ever, what Roland had said implied that David hadn't been the only Locksley Mary Margaret had gone after. She wondered if it had been Graham like it had been with Marian, he seemed to cause trouble in his siblings' relationships. She knew it couldn't be Robin because she really couldn't see him going there, so it must have been Graham, that was the only remaining option. Interesting.

The rest of the drive had been rather uneventful. Once they'd dropped off Roland and June, they'd headed back to the farmhouse. Now though Robin was in the shower, she had just taken her own and was sat on the edge of the bed in her stupidly tiny lace pyjamas, towel drying her hair. She was wondering what the sleeping arrangements would be that night. She becoming less and less dubious about sharing a bed with him. Her head was screaming at her not to let that happen, her heart or some other part of her was begging for it, it was as though the two of them were warring against one another.

_Come on! You know you want to, you want to sleep with him! Do it, what's the worst that can happen? You're just sleeping!_

**No. No, that is such a bad idea, she shouldn't sleep with him, are you insane? Don't do it, Regina, if you do that there's no coming back from it and you know it.**

_God, will you shut up! They're only sharing a bed not taking their marriage vows, though to be honest, that is coming anyway so who cares? Regina, come on, just sleep in the bed with the man, you stupid woman, don't you dare make him sleep on the floor again. His poor back._

**The only thing sensible about what you just said was the thing about his back, but maybe you should just sleep on the floor for once, give him the bed. It's not a good idea to get too close. He'll break your heart. You'll get hurt, don't let that happen again, Regina. You can't let that happen again; you know what happened the last time you fell for someone. Do you really want that to happen again?**

_She's not a sixteen-year-old girl anymore, she's not going to get hurt. Anyway, it's literally sharing a bed why are you…_

"Hey."

Regina looked up at Robin as he walked into the room wearing only pyjama bottoms and nothing else, his hair was wet and he was towelling it off similar to how she was. "Hi."

"Someone was daydreaming."

"No, I was just thinking about things that's all. I think we should share the bed," she smiled shyly as she stood and placed the damp towel over the radiator before returning to the bed and climbing in. "Would you be willing to share?"

Robin looked at her for a minute before hanging up his own towel and shrugging, "are you sure, if you're uncomfortable with it we don't have to."

"Get in the bed Locksley, before I change my mind and force you back onto the hard floor. Is that what you want?"

"No mam," he grinned, climbing into the bed beside her.

"You're seemingly more willing than you were last night."

"Well, I like to think that we have progressed since then," he shrugged. He was in bed with her and there was no going back now, she could hardly chuck him out again. Suddenly she felt nervous, her chest tightened a little as she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, nothing was going to happen, they would just be sleeping, that was what she was repeating in her mind. She was just sleeping in bed with him, they weren't going to be doing anything more than that. Robin was respectful and he would respect her, she knew that.

"Yes, I suppose so." She wound her fingers together underneath the duvet as she turned her head to look at him before sinking further under the sheets. "I had a lovely time tonight; the party was brilliant."

"Me too, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went."

Regina smiled at him and found herself staring at him a little bit, she licked her lips before tucking her hair behind her ear, "I'm tired now though, so I guess I'm going to try and get some sleep." She wasn't tired, in fact, she was wide awake, but she could feel the tension between them and would much rather pretend to be sleeping than drag it out further. She didn't want to do something that she might end up regretting.

"Okay, goodnight."

"Night Robin," she turned to face the opposite wall, staring at the blind which covered the window, it was dark though which meant she could only vaguely make out the geometric triangles and shapes from the slight amount of moonlight shining in through the gaps at either side.

She knew it was going to take her a while to fall asleep, it always did when she had to share a bed with someone. She wasn't a very heavy sleeper as it was, so having someone next to her only made it worse. After lying there for ten minutes and feeling probably less tired than she had before she turned to lay on her back and stare up at the ceiling. At home, if she couldn't sleep she would just flick the television on and fall asleep with it as background noise, always leaving it on a timer so that it turned off after so long.

"Still awake?"

"I can't sleep," she admitted, rolling to look at him.

"Me either. Do you want to talk?"

"What about?"

"Well, you dropped a bombshell earlier about your parents sending you to boarding school when you were younger. Is that topic off bounds?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head, "I suppose not, what is it that you want to know?" She had never talked about her school experience with anyone before, but she figured if they were going to have to get married and somehow convince the immigration court that they were actually in love he would have to know these things.

"How old were you when you first got sent to boarding school?"

"I was ten. My mother had just been appointed mayor in our town and my father was a member of the senate. They were busy people and decided that I would be best placed in a boarding school where I could be given more attention I suppose," she shrugged. "I hated it. I remember the first time they dropped me off, I sobbed and sobbed. I saw my father's heart breaking; my mother couldn't have cared less. She told me to toughen up and stop being so embarrassing."

"That's cold."

"That's my mother for you. She's always been like that, ever since I was born. They left me in that place and I cried myself to sleep for the first month or so," she whispered, playing with the edge of the quilt before chancing a glance up at Robin to find him watching her with an expression she couldn't place.

He reached a hand out to gently take hers, threading their fingers together. "Was it awful?"

"It wasn't so bad. I missed my father and my friends; I didn't fit in with the other children there. I was the new girl and because of that, I was left out a lot. That's when I learnt to play the piano, the music tutor took pity on me and gave me private lessons to get me out of my room. She was the friendliest woman I ever met; your mother reminds me a lot of her actually. I remember thinking when I was younger that I wished she would adopt me and take me home. Guess I saw myself as a Matilda type, without the magic of course," she smiled sadly.

"Well, she was a very good teacher."

"Yes, she was," she contemplated about what more to tell him. She knew she should be truthful and tell him the entire story, but she was scared, she wanted to talk about Mal and what happened there but it was hard dredging it all back up. "When I was sixteen a new girl arrived at the school. She'd transferred from another school but no one knew why, we hit it off straight away and I finally had a friend, an actual friend who wanted to spend time with me."

"Was this the friend you mentioned the other day, the one who tried to seduce teachers?" He asked, his fingers brushing over her in a gesture that reassured her to continue with her story.

"The one and only, though that wasn't the reason she was moved from her other school. She didn't tell me the reason until we'd been friends around six months, by this point we were inseparable. We'd have little slumber parties even though they weren't really allowed. Then one night we were playing a game of truth and dare and I asked her if she had a crush on anyone. She said yes and…" she stopped talking, she didn't know if she could tell him about that. No one knew, except her and Mal, no one knew about that moment.

She had to be truthful with him though, he was listening to her so carefully and she knew he would understand. If he didn't though, everything could be ruined, she didn't know if she was brave enough to risk that.

"Was she more than a friend?" he whispered.

Regina just nodded, "she kissed me that night. It was my first kiss and I was confused, but after a while I realised, I liked her back. We started dating, if you could have called it that. We were fooling around and I was the happiest I had ever been when I was with her. She made me happy."

"What happened?"

"All good things have to come to an end, I guess. We were kissing in bed and we got caught by one of the tutors, we were both sent home, my mother was furious and when I went back, I found out that she'd had Mal expelled from the school, she'd paid them off. We tried the long-distance thing, but it didn't work out. Now we're just good friends."

"Thank you for sharing your story with me, I know it must have been hard to open up."

"It was, I've never told anyone that before," she breathed.

"Well, I'm honoured to be the first to hear that story."

"Mal reminds me a lot of Emma actually."

"Hey! Don't be copping off with my sister! I've already had one girlfriend cheat on me with one of my siblings."

"You don't have to worry, I don't like your sister in that way," she grinned, moving a touch closer to him, he was warm and the night was cool so she couldn't help but seek out his heat. "Or anyone else for that matter. Do you want to talk more about Marian? I mean I told you about my first love, I think it's only fair that you tell me about yours."

"Oh what to say about Marian," he huffed, "she was very demanding and always needed to get her own way. Kind of like someone else I know."

"I know what I want and I always get what I want, there's a difference," Regina chuckled, playfully digging her knee into his stomach, "carry on."

"Hey, I like a headstrong woman! In fact, that is probably my type, what I don't like it someone who will sleep with my brother after we'd been dating for two years."

Regina winced and shook her head, "I can't believe you ever forgave him. If I had any siblings and they did that to me, I think I would probably have disowned them."

"It's a little hard to disown someone who lives under the same roof as you. Although after it happened I did move out for a while, I couldn't stand to be in the same room as him for months. He told me he was drunk and that it only happened once, I believe him, but it still hurts."

"It's a betrayal of your trust," she quipped, "I don't know how anyone can do that to someone, knowing that it is going to hurt them."

"I had a ring and everything. I wanted to propose, but I couldn't forgive her. I know you're going to say I'm being a hypocrite because I forgave Graham, but he was my brother, I didn't really have a choice, but she hurt me so much that I had to cut her off completely. To be honest, tonight would have been the first time I've seen her in around five years."

"Wow, that's a long time." Regina nodded. God, it was nice to just talk to him without barriers, without having to worry about revealing too much. They were communicating with each other and it made her feel happier about the situation she was in, she didn't feel as guilty. "Are you still in love with her?"

"No, I don't think so."

"You don't think so?"

"I'm not in love with her," Robin shook his head, "as I said, I could never trust her again."

Regina sighed and then something clicked in her mind, she had only just registered what he'd said, "wait, she was there tonight?"

"Marian? Yeah, she was the woman with Graham earlier."

"That's Marian?! Wow, she's a real piece of work."

"She spoke to you?"

"Did she," Regina scoffed with a shake of the head. Fuck it all made sense now, why the cow had been so off with her. If she had known that she was Marian and that she was the woman who had caused Robin so much hurt she might not have held herself back as much as she had done. She might even have indulged in a little physical violence if it had come to it, she'd never hit anyone in her life, but seeing that woman's smug face was quite capable of changing that. "She was nice to me until she found out who I was, after that she was less than friendly."

"God, I'm sorry about that, I should have warned you about her. Although she can't have me she's rather possessive."

"Well, two can play at that game. Don't worry, I fended her off," Regina laughed.

"Oh I bet you did, trust me I wouldn't like to go up against you in a fight."

"That would be a sensible decision," she grinned, she hadn't realised quite how close to him she was, but their heads were resting on the same pillow and it seemed that they had gravitated towards one another as they had been talking. It was nice, the perfect end to the evening and in a way, it made her feel closer to him, not just in the physical sense but emotionally. They understood one another that little bit more than they had done before.

She fought back a yawn as she heard the front door go, sounding the return of Robin's parents and Emma who was drunkenly singing whilst her mother shushed her, telling her off for being too loud, only resulting in laughter from the blonde.

Regina chuckled and shook her head, "your sister is really going to feel it in the morning."

"You'd be surprised, it's annoying how unhungover she is after getting this drunk."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we've probably had half the amount she has and I'm guessing we'll have a worse hangover than her."

"Eww, not looking forward to that," she yawned, covering her mouth.

"Now you're actually tired."

"How did you know I was lying before?"

"No one who is actually tired tosses and turns like that for ten minutes straight," he smirked, tucking her hair behind her ear gently, "so I suppose now it's goodnight?"

"Hmm, if I don't want to be the living dead tomorrow, I better get some sleep."

"Me too. Goodnight Regina."

"Night Robin," she whispered, doing as before and turning to face the window. However, this time sleep seemed to come more naturally, she was comfortable around him now. She trusted him in a way she hadn't before and that trust meant everything.


	9. The Day After the Night Before

**Enjoy! Sorry for the cliffhanger, I couldn't help myself. ;)**

* * *

Regina was startled awake by the sound of the rooster coming from outside, making an obnoxiously loud noise as it demanded its presence be acknowledged. She groaned and shook her head, trying to bury her face further into the bed.

"God, I hate that bird," Robin grumbled.

At that moment she became aware of the exact position they were in. She had one leg over him and an arm around his waist with her face pressed into the crook of his arm. They were extremely close with nearly every part of them touching, he was so warm and she felt incredibly cosy, so cosy that she was reluctant to even move, even though she felt her cheeks beginning to heat up.

He had an arm around her also and she didn't know what the best course of action was, she'd never been in such a position before and was completely at a loss. "Good morning," she cleared her throat as she looked up at him.

"Whoa… uh, hi. Sorry, I get a little clingy at night," he shrugged awkwardly as she slipped out of his grasp and back to her side of the bed. It had clearly been her who gravitated towards him, but she would allow him to take the blame for it because she didn't want to be held responsible for crossing the line.

"It's fine, you make a very good hot water bottle," she grinned, tucking a strand of her hair behind her war before shaking her head and getting out of the bed. She needed to distance herself from him a little before she did something, she wouldn't be able to take back. Why did he have to look so god damn cute in the morning? Since when did she think he was cute at all? Oh god, what had that party done to her, where had her disdain for him gone? "I think I might go hit the shower before someone beats me to it."

"Sounds like a good idea," he nodded, his eyes on her as he lounged in the bed, seemingly not wanting to move from its warmth. She was a little jealous, she wished she could still be in bed, but there wasn't a chance she was staying in there with him, she didn't trust herself around him and that was a worryingly new revelation.

"Cool, great, I'll just be going then, I suppose." She cringed internally at how ridiculous she had sounded; she was normally so decisive and knew exactly what she wanted but he was screwing with her brain and she was confused. Grabbing a towel and change of clothes she scampered out of the bedroom, realising that she was wearing very little bedclothes and had probably just been stood in her skimpy nighty. God help her.

Following her thoroughly refreshing shower, she had dressed in some jeans and a cosy royal blue jumper, items she had bought on the shopping trip the day before. Her hair was secured in a tiny little ponytail and she tried to make sure her makeup was immaculate. She was going for a classy casual look and hoped that she was pulling it off.

The kitchen was full of Robin's tried and hungover family members. Graham especially was milking it, he even had the customary sunglasses on, even though it was looking like a dull day outside. "Regina darling, can I get you some coffee?" Caroline asked.

"That would be wonderful thank you," Regina smiled, grinning as she met Robin's eye, he was teasing his brother and talking loudly on purpose.

"If you don't shut up, I'll stick these eggs where the sun doesn't shine," Graham huffed gesturing to the two boiled eggs sitting in cups on his plate. "You'll deserve it too."

"Aww mate, just because I know how to handle my liquor."

Regina scoffed at that, catching the attention of the oldest brother who was sat reading a newspaper, all decked out in farmers gear, much like Graham was. "What's my little brother been getting up to?" David asked, taking a swig of his coffee and glancing at Regina.

She for one was surprised that he was even acknowledging her presence, she had been certain that he didn't like her, "well, I seem to remember a certain office party which resulted in the misuse of my copier."

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Robin asked, his eyes widening as he stared at her in shock.

Regina hadn't told him that she knew what he had been up to the night of the Christmas party a few years prior. She hadn't witnessed it as such, more like seen the aftermath of the event. It was safe to say she had made sure to have the glass deep cleaned following the discovery. It could quite easily have resulted in a disciplinary for Robin, however that day he had been such a kiss ass to make up for it that she had elected not to raise the matter. "You didn't hide the evidence very well."

"You saw… oh god, Regina, I'm sorry I… how did you know that it was…"

"Your ass?"

"Yeah."

"You happened to have done several of your face also, I do hope for your sake they were first and not after." She grinned, "that's also how I found out that your ass wasn't half bad." There were several choking noises from around the room, one being from Robin himself and his mother had almost spilt the coffee she had just made as they all stared at her. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."

"Classic," Graham laughed.

She knew her cheeks had probably gone red, she'd gotten a little carried away with her story and hadn't meant to take it so far, Robin was also rather pink in the face as he stared at her. Caroline cleared her throat and moved to hand Regina her drink, only to have it snatched by a second set of greedy hands.

"Okay, which one of you dickheads is giving me a lift home?" a chirpy voice asked.

"How are you even awake right now."

"I don't do hangovers," Emma grinned, winking at the guys as she stole some of her eldest brother's bacon.

"I'm impressed, you sounded rather intoxicated when you arrived home last night." Regina murmured, running her eyes over the blonde. She seemed completely fine, the only clue that she had been out the night before was the fact she was still in the tight dress she had been wearing the night before. Her face was free from makeup and her hair slung up in a messy bun.

"Oh, did she wake you? Emma, I told you to be quiet." Caroline tutted, producing another coffee for Regina to replace the one her daughter had stolen.

"No she didn't wake us, we were still awake."

"Oh, of course, they were still awake! Why do you think they went home so early? They knew they would have the house to themselves and took the opportunity to come home and get frisky." Emma smirked before stuffing her mouth with a piece of Robin's toast, following that with a swig of Graham's orange juice.

"Anything else you plan on stealing?" Robin tutted, glancing at Regina before putting some more bread in the toaster and retrieving the jam from the fridge. "Raspberry or strawberry?"

"Raspberry please," Regina smiled.

"Good choice."

"It's better," she hummed, moving over to him and blatantly ignoring Emma's comment. They could think what they liked, to be honest, it was probably better for them that everyone thought that was the reason they came home early, it would certainly help their case and make their relationship more believable.

"Hey, I thought maybe after breakfast we could go for a little ride," Robin suggested, his voice low so that the rest of his family couldn't overhear.

"Ride?" she teased, watching as his eyes widened.

"On the horses!"

"I was teasing you."

"Minx," he grinned, holding a plate of toast out to her, "so?"

"I would really like that," she nodded, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked at him.

"Why are you two so sickeningly cute," Emma groaned, moving between them and dropping her mug in the sink, her hand moving towards the plate of toast only to be intercepted by Regina's hand swatting it away.

"Get your own breakfast."

"Oooh, girls got game," the blonde chuckled, "fine, Robin, please could you make your favourite sister some toast?"

"I only have one sister and to be honest I…" he was cut off by an elbow to the ribs, as she pushed him out of the way and grabbed some bread.

"Dick."

"Bitch."

"Hey! Enough of that," Caroline huffed, "Graham, go wake your father, its time to get to work. Don't worry Regina we'll give you the day off."

"I appreciate it," she chuckled.

"Do you fancy watching Meg for us today, we're giving her the day off too."

"Sure," Regina smiled, looking to the border collie who was laid on the tiles with her head resting on her front paws, her tail wagging at the sound of her name.

"You are privileged to be given that duty. Mum takes her everywhere," Robin smiled, as they both took a seat at the table and tucked into their breakfast.

"Well, I shall take the utmost care of her."

"Good." Caroline nodded, raising from her seat just as the doorbell sounded. "Oh, that's probably our milk guy, David can you give me a hand in loading?"

"Of course, catch you guys later."

"David! Can't you drive me home?" Emma moaned, following him out of the kitchen, leaving Robin and Regina alone.

"Welcome to my crazy family."

"I love it," Regina smiled, "you must really miss them when you're back in London."

"Yeah, I do. I try and get back as often as I can but…"

"I probably make that a little hard for you."

"Well, what can you do."

"Let you have some weekends off?" she shrugged, earning a chuckle from him. "I'm serious though, from now on, I won't make you work weekends."

"Really? What changed? You like me now or something?"

"Something like that, I think you're decent enough," Regina smiled, moving a little closer to him. She was about to rest her hand on his when someone entered the kitchen. They both looked up and Regina's eyes widened as she looked from the person to Robin and then back again.

"Marian, what are you doing here?" he asked, his voice dripping with disdain. She could see how angry he was just at the sight of her and her hand gravitated to his knee, giving it a light squeeze, she hoped it reassured him somewhat or maybe calmed him a little.

"I was hoping that I'd be able to talk to you actually Robin," she murmured nervously.

"What could you possibly have to say to me?"

"Quite a bit to be honest. I just want the chance to talk, then you can send me away and I'll leave if that's what you want."

"Fine, if it gets you away from me that's totally okay with me. Outside, now," he huffed, gesturing to the door she had just entered through. "Hey, sorry about this? Do you want to get ready to go riding? Hopefully, I can get rid of her quickly then we can get on with our day."

"Sure, take your time," she whispered.

Robin nodded, giving her hand a little squeeze before standing up and following the other woman out. Regina swallowed the lump in her throat as she turned to the dog who was watching her from the floor, "it'll be fine, right?" Meg tilted her head, looking at her in confusion. "Yeah, it should be." She found herself drifting to the window, washing up the dishes in the sink whilst peeking outside, getting glimpses of Robin and Marian stood in the garden.

They looked to be having a heated conversation and she could tell that there were hurtful words being spewed back and forth. With a sigh she shook her head and looked into the dirty dishwater, they must have loved each other a lot to be having such a passionate argument. Though she had to keep in mind that Marian had hurt Robin, he was in pain because of something she had done.

She couldn't help but feel slightly jealous, it was mixed in with the many other confusing feelings swirling around her subconscious, ones she had no idea how to deal with, didn't even want to deal with. They were best ignored, kept locked away, this was a business transaction and it wasn't awful that she liked him. God, she needed to like him if she was going to marry him, even if the marriage was a total sham.

When she looked up again, they seemed to have calmed a little, Robin was staring at the ground and Marian reached out, taking his hands in hers. He didn't pull away and Regina narrowed her eyes a little as she watched the other woman move closer. She had a horrible, terrible feeling that she knew how this was going to go but she couldn't tear her eyes away from them. Her heart was in her mouth as she stared at the pair, Marian's hand snuck up to his upper arms and she was rubbing them in a way that made Regina was to storm out there and slap them off.

She felt her nose burn as she watched, why wasn't he pushing her off? Why was he just standing there and letting her touch him?! Do something Robin! She wanted to scream at him but was stuck, transfixed, waiting on bated breath to see what might happen. Before she could turn away from the window, she saw Marian move in as if to kiss him and Regina clasped a hand over her mouth before turning her back and looking down to the dog. She needed to get out of there.

* * *

With each step away from the house she couldn't tell if she felt better or worse. Meg was walking beside her as they made their way down a country track, Regina was wearing her woollen winter coat with a scarf, she had a pair of leather gloves as well, but her hat had been in the bedroom and she was in too much of a rush to retrieve it.

"What the hell was he thinking?" she murmured to no one in particular, "what the hell was she thinking?!" Regina was angry at the situation, how dare Marian just turn up and try to seduce her fiancé. She was the one marrying Robin, not that bimbo. She'd warned her the night before to stay away, but apparently the threat had fallen on deaf ears. Regina had probably made it worse by running away but she didn't care, so what if Robin had to worry for a while. He could go to hell for all she cared.

Why did he let her touch him like that? Even if he hadn't instigated the contact, he hadn't stopped it either. He'd had more than enough time to push her away, but he hadn't done that, he'd just stood there like an idiot and let her put her hands all over him. She didn't want to be around him, didn't want him anywhere near her, she needed some space and out in nature was a great place to get that, even if the ground was muddy and sodden, she had her borrowed wellingtons on and wasn't turning back anytime soon.

"How easy must it be to be a dog, huh?" she asked, Meg, seeing how her ears pricked up and her tail wagged as she looked up. "You are a good listener, aren't you?" Regina sighed, she really was going crazy, the dog had no idea what she was saying.

She didn't know why she was reacting the way she was; it wasn't as though she and Robin were in love or getting married because of feelings. In fact, she had virtually blackmailed him into marrying her, so did she really have the right to be so angry about him interacting with his ex? Not really, but that bitch had broken his heart and she had no clue how he could bear to be near her at all. It was the principle of the matter. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was jealous.

She wasn't jealous, that wasn't what she was feeling, it couldn't be what she was feeling. She didn't even like him. Well, maybe a little bit, he was growing on her, slowly, or altogether too quickly for her liking. Way too quickly. It had just sprung on her all of a sudden, all these feelings, icky feelings that she didn't want to confess to. He didn't make her feel gooey inside or giddy just at the sight of his dopey face. Oh god! She liked him, she really, really liked him, in the butterflies flying around in the stomach kind of way.

This wasn't good. It really wasn't good.

She couldn't like him that way, it wasn't the agreement, wasn't what they had arranged. It was meant to be a quick marriage for her visa followed by an even quicker divorce. Feelings complicated everything. What if he didn't even like her back, he probably didn't. Why would he, who would like her? She was an utter bitch to virtually everyone she had ever met, she wouldn't be surprised if he hated her.

Then again, if he did hate her, he'd had the perfect opportunity to kill her off whilst they had been sleeping in the same room and she was still alive. God her mind was running away from her, breaking out on a tangent and going crazy. She needed to stop thinking about it, stop thinking about him and block out any thoughts of anything other than her surroundings and…

She looked up, glancing around and finding herself in the middle of a field with absolutely no idea how she got there. She'd been walking and daydreaming and now she was no longer on the path and the farm was out of sight. Just how long had she been going? Meg was standing beside her, looking up and probably wondering why they had stopped all of sudden, she bloody well hoped the dog knew the way back because if not she was lost in the middle of the Yorkshire Countryside with no clue how to get back.

"Okay, everything is fine. I'll just use google maps and see…" upon patting her pockets down several times she came to the awful conclusion that she was lost in the middle of nowhere with no phone and only a dog for company. Not to mention the rather black clouds that seemed to be rolling in over the top of what looked like dense woodland. "If it rains, I am suing someone," she huffed, realising how cold it had dropped, she wished she'd gone upstairs for her hat. "I don't know who quite yet, but someone will at the very least be paying for my dry-cleaning bill."

"Which way then, girl?" Regina asked, looking down at the dog who just stared back at her with a rather blank expression. "Is it this way?" she questioned, pointing one way, the dog going along with it. Regina narrowed her eyes before pointing in the opposite direction, "or this way?" the dog did the same again and Regina came to the conclusion that she was useless.

"Great, just great. You're just lucky there aren't any cows in this field, then we really would be having fun." Regina sighed before opting to go the way she had gestured to first, the way in the opposite direction to the trees, she certainly wasn't going into any forests. She clambered over a style, dropping down into the thick mud on the other side with a groan as it squelched underneath her feet. "oh the countryside is so beautiful," she quipped sarcastically.

She walked for another ten minutes before the sound of thunder rumbled across the valley and she stared across to the moors which looked a lot closer than they had done from the house. Panic was rising inside her, what the hell was she doing wandering off when she didn't know where she was going or how on earth she was going to get back. This was all Marian's fault. The bitch.

The trees swayed in the wind and she could hear animals making noises all around them, the sky overhead was heavy, thick with rainclouds, or more accurately storm clouds. She could tell she was about to get caught out in the middle of a storm and there wasn't much she could do about it. She didn't know how to deal with this type of weather, she hadn't been a girl scout, she'd had elocution lessons instead of survival training.

She also hated storms, always had. Loathed them even. They scared her and thunder and lightning were terrifyingly unpredictable. She hadn't had anyone at boarding school to comfort her during a storm and back home her mother would tell her she was being a baby and leave her to hide under her bed. "Meg, home, girl!" The dog's ears pricked up and she began tugging Regina a different way. "Home, good girl."

She followed Meg and the rain started to come down, lightly at first before intensifying. She was drenched within minutes, the water soaking through her winter coat and seeping through her clothes down to her underwear. She was uncomfortably cold and really needed to be back at the farm in front of the fire, preferable wrapped up in Robin's arms. If she wasn't mad at him that was, though that was the last thing on her mind at that moment.

Meg kept on pulling, drawing Regina towards a line of lightly interspersed trees, just as they reached them, she lost her footing and slipped, dropping the lead and finding herself sliding down a steep river banking. She stopped falling promptly as she collided with a tree truck halfway up, a searing pain rushing through her ankle and ribs. Her breath was stolen as she gasped before screaming in agony, looking up to see a very worried dog peering down at her.

The situation had just gone from bad to perilous in a matter of seconds, she was clinging to the tree for dear life, looking down at the fast-flowing river below. "Help!" she cried. She could hear Meg whimpering from where she was at the top of the banking, soft heart-breaking cries as she watched on helplessly. A loud crash of thunder rolled through the valley, followed by a flash of lightning. Regina shielded her face before looking back to Meg, only to find the dog was gone, spooked by the weather.

Regina was left alone, clinging to a tree halfway up what might as well be a cliff-face with what could possibly be a broken ankle. She was covered in mud, soaking wet and freezing cold with no chance of dragging herself up the slippery surface, no way of getting back to the farm without help, she just prayed to god that Meg had bolted home and not run away without a destination. She could only hope that there was a chance she could be rescued, that Robin or anyone would find her soon.


	10. Regina!

**Told you I wouldn't make you wait a long time for this update! Enjoy this emotional rollercoaster of a chapter.** **This is the first and probably only chapter visiting Robin's POV.**

* * *

"Marian, I don't know what you can have to tell me that's so important that it couldn't have waited," Robin huffed as he followed the woman outside. He was annoyed by her disruption, he'd been hoping for a nice day with Regina, they were getting closer and he was beginning to feel more comfortable around her. He'd always had a thing for her, she was bossy and dominant and he liked that about her, he shouldn't, but he did. She knew what she wanted and although she could be entirely annoying the majority of the time, she was beautiful and charming in her own way. This trip had just confirmed his feelings for her.

"I needed to talk to you about our breakup."

"What about it? I already know everything, you slept with my brother of all people, how did you think we would be able to come back from that?" Robin asked. "I can never forgive you for it."

"Oh yeah, but you'll forgive him so easily."

"He's my brother."

"Yeah, your brother who fucked your girlfriend."

"I know, and I'll remember that forever, it will always be there, in my subconscious. I can't trust him properly ever again, but he's my family, I have to try with him. You, on the other hand, I'll never be able to even look at you without thinking about what you did and how you betrayed me. How could you even do that to me, Marian?"

"You were never here Robin! You were down in London and it seems you were cosying up to your new fiancé whilst you were down there. Maybe I wasn't the only one who was unfaithful, for all I know you could have been screwing her behind my back, how long exactly have the two of you been together."

"I never once cheated on you Marian; I wouldn't have done that to you."

"But you liked her? When we were together, did you like her?"

"She was my boss."

"She's still you boss Robin, only now she's your fiancé as well."

"I didn't like her when we were together because I wouldn't have even looked at another woman that way when I was with you. You know I'm not that person, if I had even looked at her in that way I would have felt as though it were a betrayal to you. You though, you didn't care about how I felt, I was living alone in London, I asked you to join me and you said no, you were the one that assured me the long-distance thing would work out and it didn't even last six months before you were warming my brother's bed." He was tired of this conversation, he just wanted her to leave, he'd moved on, what was the use of dredging up old problems?

"I'm sorry Robin, I didn't even think."

"That's the problem isn't you didn't even care about me really; you couldn't have done otherwise you would have been thinking. How did you really think we were going to end up after that?"

"Robin please, just… I really am sorry; it never should have happened. Sleeping with your brother was the biggest mistake I ever made. I was so stupid, I really did care about you Robin, I loved you, still do. I just wish there was a way for us to have a second chance. We were great together Robin; you know we worked. Is she really it for you?"

"Marian, there isn't any chance of us getting back together," Robin groaned. He actually despaired with this woman, did she really think he was just going to forgive her and give them another go? Especially when she thought he was engaged, technically he was engaged, even if it wasn't in a conventional way. He was going to marry Regina and hopefully things would work out, he wasn't sure how she felt about him but she must at least tolerate him to demand marriage. He wanted to charm her and show her how good they could be together if she would let him.

"Let me prove it to you, I'll show you how great we can be," she whispered. He furrowed his eyebrow, why in the hell was she just staring at him now, he knew he should just send her away and get back to Regina, she was probably wondering what was going on. Marian was still looking at him and it was unnerving.

"Marian, I think you should just leave now, this is never going to happ…" his words were cut off by her lips pressing against his. Robin was so shocked that he just stood there for a moment before snapping out of it and pushing her away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Robin…"

"Leave right now Marian."

"Robin!"

"I'm marrying Regina whether you like it or not, so leave please Marian." Without watching if she listened to him or not he hurried back inside, "Regina, I'm so sorry about… Regina?" Robin furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around the kitchen, she wasn't there anymore, she'd obviously become tired of waiting for him. The dishes were cleaned and placed on the draining board but there wasn't any sight of Regina, or Meg for that matter.

"What on earth was Marian doing here," Caroline huffed as she came into the kitchen and dropped her gloves onto the counter, "I thought we'd seen the last of that woman."

"I asked her to leave. Do you know where Regina went?"

"I haven't seen her since breakfast."

"Right," Robin sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Why the hell hadn't he dismissed Marian as soon as possible, he didn't want to let Regina down by keeping her waiting, but it seemed as though that was exactly what he had done. He made his way to his room, maybe she had gone upstairs for some reason, it was a feasible explanation. "Regina, you in here?"

The room was empty with no sign that she had been there since they left it earlier that morning, it was strange, where could she actually have gone? Maybe he needed to look around the house, she could have found another room to relax within.

"Robin, it looks as though Meg's lead is gone, maybe she took her out," his mother quipped as she reached the doorway to his room. "Though it is a little odd that she would go off alone, did something happen between the two of you?"

"No, we had a whole day planned, we were going riding, I don't get why she'd just go off."

"Did she see you talking to Marian?"

"She knew I was talking to her, but she wouldn't just leave like that surely, she has no idea where she is or where she would be going. It doesn't make sense."

"It's the only feasible option really Robin, I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll just have to wait for her to come back," he sighed. What if she had seen Marian kiss him, what would she be thinking, she would probably be hurt and now he was beginning to feel even worse for not sending Marian off. Why had he even entertained her ridiculousness? He was so foolish and now he was annoyed at himself, he hoped she hadn't seen the kiss and that she had simply decided to take Meg out, but he wasn't confident about that, not at all. It wasn't like her, she was a rational person, she wouldn't make a hasty decision such as that one if she hadn't seen something to make her do so.

He sat down on the bed and lowered his head to his hands, he was an idiot, a complete and utter fool, one for talking to Marian and then another for not telling Regina how he felt about her, not letting her know about his feelings. He should have told her the moment she had asked him to marry her, he'd been too stunned to say anything, completely surprised by the revelation. Then she had threatened his job if he refused and he had been even more shocked that she would go to such extremes. The whole thing was crazy but he knew he should have confessed to his feelings.

He should have told her.

He'd been in love with her for years. He was a coward, but at least he knew it.

It had taken a while for him to come to terms with how he felt for her, realising that what he felt was actually love. After years of overtime and weekend shifts, spending nearly every waking moment with the woman it was inevitable that he began to feel something for her. It started off as disdain and then changed to something else entirely. The more time he did spend with her the more he came to like her.

Laying back against the pillows he turned to the window, noticing that the clouds were beginning to roll in, that wasn't a good sign. After spending his childhood in this part of the country, he knew how the weather could turn, one minute it would be bright without a cloud in the sky and the next there could be a sudden downpour. The last thing he wanted was for Regina to get caught out in a storm.

He glanced at the bedside table and spotted his phone, maybe he should call her, ask her where she was, she needed to get back before the heavens opened, he knew that her coat wasn't waterproof and certainly wouldn't keep her dry in a storm, she could catch her death out there. Picking it up, he scrolled through his contacts, landing on the one entitled Her Majesty before pressing the call button.

It rang for one tone until he heard her phone ringing from the table on the other side of the bed. She didn't take it with her, she was out there somewhere without any way of contacting anyone. Something could happen to her; she could get into trouble and not be able to contact anyone for help. If he wasn't worried before, he certainly was now. He stood from the bed and began pacing the room, all manner of thoughts running through his head.

He heard the rumbled of distant thunder and shook his head, that was it, he was going out looking for her, not that he had any idea which direction she had gone it, but he couldn't just sit there doing nothing. "Mum, I need to go find Regina," he stated hurrying down into the hallway and grabbing his wellingtons before pulling on his waterproof coat.

"Darling, I'm sure she'll be back before the storm breaks, she's with Meg, my little dear is trained to come home, she knows the way even if Regina doesn't," Carline reassured. Robin knew that was true and it was a small blessing that Regina had taken the dog with her, it made him hopeful that they would be able to get back before the weather became too bad.

"I still need to go looking for her, I can't just stay here waiting," he sighed, making sure he was fully fastened up before moving to the door.

"Well, I suppose I can get your brothers to go out as well, if you take the west path, I'll send them on the other two. They are the only three proper walks from here, if she hasn't gone any of those ways then I have no idea where she will have gone."

"Right," he nodded opening the door and feeling the wind whipping through the air, it seemed the storm was closer than they first thought and from the look of the dark clouds lingering in the sky they were the on the verge of a downpour. "Call me if she gets back before I do."

"I will, be careful Robin, the weather doesn't look good."

"I know, it will be alright."

* * *

Robin walked as the rain battered against him, his waterproof jacket was sticking to his skin and he was feeling bitterly cold. He still hadn't found Regina and there was no sound from his mother yet which meant that she hadn't returned back to the house. He was hoping that she had, maybe the storm had knocked out the phone line, resulting in a loss of service. He didn't know how much longer he could carry on looking for her, the visibility was getting worse and he'd been walking for at least an hour.

It was ridiculous and he knew that he had to head home, god she better be okay. With a heavy heart he turned back in the direction of the house, picking up the speed to try and get there quickly. The storm was at full intensity and the thunder almost shook the ground every time it sounded. What would he do if Regina wasn't there when he arrived? What could he even do? If she wasn't back it would be a really bad sign, as his mother said Meg always pulled towards home during a storm.

The ground was soaked and squelched under his feet as he albeit ran through the fields, taking the shortcut to get back running past the trees and making sure to stay away from the edge of the path which dropped down into a steep ravine. He hurried all the way back, bursting through the front door, "is she back? Have you heard… she's not here is she?" he asked, looking at his parents who were stood in the sitting room with his brothers and sister, his grandparents had also come over and they all had concerned expressions on their faces.

"I'm sorry Robin, the three of us have been out looking and there's no sign of her," Emma sighed, "I don't know where the hell that woman has gone, it's like she just disappeared."

"I'm really worried now Robin," Caroline stated, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, "she's been out there for hours."

"Maybe she found shelter, there are a few abandoned houses around," David suggested, "she could just be waiting it out."

Robin hoped that was the case, he knew his brother was right, there were abandoned cottages that he knew of around the area, though most of them were unsafe and probably death traps. He ran a hand through his soaked hair, he didn't know what to do now. "Where the hell are you Regina?!" he growled to himself. "God, I can't believe she's done this! It's just like her to pull a stunt like this, to go missing and have everyone worried sick." He was angry and scared, for the most part, he was going out of his mind with worry and the panic was mounting.

"Robin you need to get out of those wet clothes."

"No, what I need to do is find my fiancé!" he snapped looking up at his mother and shaking his head, "sorry, I'm sorry, I just need to know she's safe."

"Go and change your clothes, then come back downstairs. If she's not back within the hour I'll get in touch with my friend who works with the mountain rescue team."

"Right, yeah okay." Robin took a deep breath to steady himself before going to pull off his wellies, but just as he was doing so he heard distant barking and his eyes shot to the door, "mum I think they're back! That's Meg isn't it?!"

"Definitely Meg," she nodded.

Robin breathed a sigh of relief and rushed to the door, flinging it open to see a filthy looking border collie charging towards the house, dragging her lead along the ground behind her. No sign of Regina, that wasn't good. Meg didn't stop barking when she reached them, she nudged him with her head before barking at him some more. "Where is she girl?"

Another few barks and she was hurrying off again, this time Robin ran after her, going the exact way he had just come from and he had a horrible sinking feeling when he realised where exactly they were going. His brothers and mother were following behind them. After about ten minutes they slowed down, he could see his family in the distance but he couldn't wait he needed to get to Regina. Meg stopped suddenly and began sniffling as she walked along the side of what Robin knew to be the edge of the path, then she began to whimper and cry looking down towards the river.

Robin glanced over the edge and caught sight of exactly what he had feared, "Regina!" he yelled, panic increasing even more now that he could clearly see that she was hurt and barely conscious.

"Robin! Help... Help me please!" she cried.

"Don't worry I'm here now, it's going to be fine." His throat tightened as he looked down at her, how the hell was he supposed to get her out of there. The banking was drenched and treacherous, one wrong move and they would both be sliding all the way down to the fast-flowing river below.

"Oh, my goodness is she down there?!" Caroline gasped as she reached them, "Regina sweetie we're going to get you out, try to stay calm."

"How are we going to get her up from there?" Graham asked.

Robin shook his head and grabbed his phone from his pocket before dialling Emma's number.

**"Robin did you find her?" **

"Yes, but I'm going to need help, she's in trouble. You're going to have to bring the tractor to the ravine and we need a rope."

**"Fuck, the ravine?!" **

"Yeah, she's obviously slipped down the banking."

**"God damn. I'll get to you as quickly as I can, okay?" **

"Thanks, Em," he ended the call before moving to lay on his front so he could crawl to the edge of the banking and look down at Regina. "Gina!"

"Robin," she sobbed.

"Are you hurt?"

"I think so, I think… it's bad, my foot, I heard… a, a crack. My… r r r… ribs t t… too," she shivered.

He could see that her lips were turning blue from the cold, they didn't have long before she developed hypothermia. She needed to be taken to a hospital and quickly.

"I'm… so, so… cold."

"Don't worry I'm going to get you out of here, I promise. Keep talking to me Gina, you need to keep talking."

Robin was laid in the mud for nearly ten minutes trying to make sure she didn't lose consciousness; the rain had subdued somewhat but was still falling. The sound of a tractor approaching had him standing carefully and Regina calling out, asking him what was happening. As soon as it stopped Robin hurried over to it, "did you bring the rope?"

"Yes, here," Emma threw him a coil of rope which he preceded to wrap around his waist, tying it in knots similar to those they might use should an animal get stuck somewhere. The other end was then secured to the tractor, he knew what he was about to do was quite dangerous but he needed to get Regina to safety and if she had broken her ankle as he feared, there was no way she was getting up that banking without him coming to get her.

"Robin! Please be careful," Caroline worried, holding onto David as she watched on.

"Gina, I'm coming to get you okay, don't move. Graham, David can you lower me down please?" He felt a knot of nerves in his stomach, if the rope was too loose and he lost his grip he could fall and land himself in trouble as well as Regina, they needed to go about this safely, even if it took a little longer than he might have liked.

Once they had a hold of the rope, he closed his eyes before carefully lowering himself over the edge, trying to find things to grip onto as he abseiled down the side of the slope. It seemed to take him an eternity to travel the treacherous twenty feet from the top of the ravine to where Regina had fallen to, there was still thirty feet for her to go was she to slip and fall to the bottom. He glanced behind him, trying to work out how he was going to move over to where she was without risking them both losing their footing. She was clinging for dear life to a tree which was sticking out of the banking and he could tell just from looking that her ankle was broken, she was most likely in agony.

"Robin how you doing?" Emma called down from the top, it seemed she had taken up the position he had been in before she arrived, laid on the ground peering over the edge, her golden hair now smeared with mud and soaking wet.

"I'm nearly there, when I give the signal, I'm gonna need you to start the tractor and pull us up okay?!"

"Got you," she nodded.

Taking a deep breath, he began moving horizontally, crossing over to the steeper part of the hill which Regina had fallen down. He needed her in his arms and safe before he could even consider being relieved. As soon as his hand reached the tree he pulled himself onto the little ledge and reached down to help her into his arms, leaning against the tree trunk as she wrapped her own around him, burying her head against his chest as she cried.

"I've got you, it's okay, I've got you Gina." She was filthy and drenched and shaking from the cold and pain. He wanted to tell her how he felt there and then but he needed to get her to safety, the time for feelings and hugs would come later.

"I thought I was going to die," she whispered, "I've never been so scared in my life."

"Me either," he sighed, nuzzling his face against her neck as he held her in his arms. "We need to get you to the hospital." He had reached her but now came the hardest part of all, getting them both out of there safely. His plan was to have her wrap herself around him as he tried to navigate them both up the side of the ravine. "I need you to hold on and not let go okay."

"Yes."

"Good, also don't look down." Robin held onto her for dear life as he gave Emma the signal to pull them up. One of his hands was holding her against him as the other clung to the rope. He used his feet to guide them upwards as the rope slowly began tightening, helping in lifting them up the slippery slope. He could feel Regina's breath tickling his neck as she hid her face against him, her hands clinging to him, fingers curled around the material of his coat.

"Don't let go of me," she whispered, her lips brushing against his skin as she spoke.

"I've got you; I promise, I'm not letting go." He tightened his grip on her, holding her even closer than he had been before. It took a while but when the finally reached the top, both David and Graham helped to haul them over the edge back onto solid ground, Robin sat down in the mud with Regina straddling his lap, her limbs fully wrapped around him, her injured ankle tucked at an awkward angle. He held her tight for a moment as she cried against him, he felt tears burning his own eyes.

He was relieved but knew that they weren't out of the woods yet, he needed to get her to the hospital, but first, he was going to relish having her wrapped up in his arms. He needed some time to just hold her close and attempt to calm his racing heart.


	11. The Ward

Regina smiled softly at Robin as he came into her hospital room with a sheepish expression on his face. She was pushing slimy green jelly around in a bowl, it was gross but oddly satisfying to play with. The doctors had just left her and Robin had obviously been told that he was allowed into her room. "Hey you, how are you feeling?"

"Exhausted, but they've given me pain meds, so I'm okay I guess," she sighed as he came to sit beside her, finding her hand with his. She was a little shocked at the gesture but allowed it none the less, he looked worried, not quite as worried as he had done at the ravine, but worried none the less. "Thanks for saving me."

"God you had me so worried you know," he murmured, squeezing her hand gently, "we were out looking for you, then when Meg came back without you, I don't think I have ever been that scared in my entire life. Why did you go out without letting anyone know? I thought we were going riding."

Regina looked at him seriously for a moment before pulling her hand away from his and going back to messing with the jelly, staring at the translucent green snot-like substance in the bowl. "You were otherwise engaged and I figured Meg would need a walk," she stated, not meeting his eye, there was no way she was letting him know that she was jealous, not a chance. She didn't think she was ready to let him know how she felt, she was scared of the truth and knew he probably didn't reciprocate the feelings.

She was just an idiot who had fallen in love with one of her employees.

"I would have gone with you; I was getting rid of Marian."

"Well, you have a funny way of getting rid of someone if that's how you go about it."

"What?"

"Sticking your tongue down someone's throat is a weird way to get rid of them if you ask me."

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that."

"Well that was Marian, trust me I didn't ask for her to kiss me, I didn't want that to happen. I pushed her away and asked her to leave. We're engaged, I wouldn't have done that to you."

"We might be engaged but we both know that it's not a proper engagement. You don't owe me anything," she sighed. It wasn't what she was wanting to say, but technically it was the truth, if anything she was the one who owed him something, he was the one doing her a massive favour by agreeing to marry her, he didn't have to do that. "Do you want to get back together with her?"

"No, of course not, Regina you know she screwed me over when she slept with my brother, why would you think I would take her back?"

"Well, I didn't know if you were still in love with her of not."

"I'm not, definitely not. I haven't been for a long time."

"Robin, you can tell me the truth, you know you don't…"

"I am, I'm telling you the truth. I'm not in love with Marian, I don't want her in my life anymore. I've moved on."

Regina looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows, he was staring at her in a way that made her heartbeat quicken, it was almost a look of adoration. It was confusing and altogether too attractive, especially considering they were on a shared ward with three other women, most of which were over the age of eighty.

"What did the doctors say anyway?" he asked, clearing his throat, clearly trying to change the subject, maybe it was because she hadn't replied, but she didn't know what she was supposed to say to that. Didn't even know what he meant, she knew what she hoped he meant, but that was probably too good to be true.

"They want to keep me in overnight for observation," she huffed with a roll of her eyes.

"Really?"

"Hmm, they said I had mild hypothermia, but I honestly feel fine, I would rather be back at the farm."

"Well, doctors order Gina, you've got to follow them."

She smiled at the nickname but she wasn't happy about being kept in, it was the last place she wanted to be, after the day she'd had she just wanted to curl up in Robin's bed and go to sleep with him wrapped around her.

"So, the leg?"

"My ankle is broken in three places," she groaned, moving a little, she felt really stiff, her body was badly bruised and the doctors suspected she had broken a few ribs when she impacted with the tree, she wouldn't be surprised, it had been agony.

"I think we knew that though," he quipped tapping lightly on her cast, "do I get to sign it?"

"Maybe, depends what you're planning on writing," Regina smiled mischievously. He grinned back at her before finding her hand again and pressing a small kiss to it. "You don't have to stay with me you know, we're heading back to London the day after tomorrow and I understand if you want to spend time with your family."

"Hey, my fiancé is in the hospital, there's nowhere else I want to be right now than here by your side. Plus, I don't trust you to stay here alone, you might try and escape, or give some of the nurse's trouble. I need to stay here for their sake."

"Very funny," she rolled her eyes, secretly she was touched that he wanted to stay with her, that he cared about her, he rarely got the chance to come home and see his family, so the fact that he was willing to spend that time with her instead of them meant a lot to her, it showed her that he actually did care.

"Didn't you get the memo? I'm actually a comedian, I don't know who told you I was a scientist."

"Well, I think it was your doctorate in biochemistry but I could be mistaken," she smirked, biting down on her bottom lip, "unless you forged your qualifications, then I'm afraid I would have to fire you."

"You would never fire me; you like me too much."

"Who said I like you?"

"Oh, I know you like me," Robin grinned as he stood from the chair, before budging her up and slipping onto the tiny single bed with her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders so she could lean against him. "Come on, you must like me a little."

"I don't know where you're finding this information, it's not in the least bit true, in fact, last I checked I couldn't stand you," she smirked, glancing up at him. He was warm and toasty next to her and she was revelling in his body heat, she couldn't help but curl into his embrace, she wanted him to stay next to her for the duration of her time in hospital but knew that he wouldn't be allowed.

"Liar."

"Maybe I did tell a small white lie," Regina yawned, finding herself cuddling into his side, "this bed is so uncomfortable."

"Now that one wasn't a lie."

"Yeah, and you're making me stay here. How can you do that to your beloved fiancé?"

"I want to make sure that she is receiving the best care she can get so that she makes a quick recovery. You might as well quit bringing that up because there isn't anything I can do about it, if the doctors want to keep you in for observation, they are keeping you in."

"Yes sir," she scoffed, she moved a little wincing at the pain she felt. Once she was on her side, she allowed herself to lay almost on top of him as she closed her eyes feeling slightly drowsy, she wasn't sure if it was from the pain medication or sheer exhaustion.

"Sleep, I'm not going anywhere," he reassured, running his fingers through her hair as she began to drift off. She was almost asleep when she heard people enter the room, rousing her again. "Mum she was just getting to…"

"I'm awake," she murmured, rubbing her eyes as she looked up to see not just Caroline but pretty much Robin's entire family, she was sure that only two visitors were allowed at a time so didn't know how they were getting away with all being there at once.

"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"Tired, the pain is better though."

"They got you on the strong stuff?" Emma asked with a grin that made Regina chuckle, but it hurt to laugh so that was quickly replaced with a pained gasp. "Maybe not strong enough then, shame."

"Emma stop it," Caroline admonished, "the poor girl doesn't need you teasing her whilst she's injured. You gave us all a good scare out there darling; I brought you some of your things. I thought you might appreciate having your own pyjamas, though if I am honest I couldn't really find yours so I brought you some of Robin's instead, they might be a little big but I'm sure they'll be fine."

"They're perfect, thank you." The last thing she wanted was to be wearing her sexy nightwear on a hospital ward, she really hadn't been thinking when that was all she packed for the entire holiday. She was also glad that she would have clothes that smelt like Robin, even if he hadn't been wearing them, they still had a smell to them which she loved. Robin hadn't moved from his place on the bed despite his family's presence, if anything his hold on her had tightened.

"I also brought you some home-baked brownies, I remember when my friend Pauline was in here the other month that she said the food was dire."

"Thanks," Regina smiled, taking the container from the other woman, only for Robin to snatch it from her hands and steal a brownie, "hey! Thief."

"What? Can't save a brownie for your rescuer?" he pouted as he took a bite of the chocolaty treat.

"Oh, I don't know about that, I think I might have wanted to keep them all to myself."

"Who knew my fiancé was such a greedy gut."

"Says the man with a mouth full of brownie," she scoffed, staring at the brownie in his hand before grinning to herself and leaning in to snatch a large chunk with her teeth.

"Oi! Now who has a mouth full of brownie?"

She had to stop herself from laughing because she didn't want to risk spraying Robin's family with brownie crumbs. She had definitely put too much in her mouth at once.

"The two of you are like children," Caroline chuckled, "but I'm glad you're feeling better Regina."

"Right, we've seen that she's better can we leave now?" David asked with an eye roll, earning what almost amounted to a death stare from Robin. "What? Don't you know how much they charge for parking here, it's astronomical."

"You guys can leave; I'm going to stay for a bit. I'll get a taxi back when visiting is over," Robin quipped. "Unless I can find a way to stay in here undetected."

"Robin just give me a call when you're ready to come home and I'll pick you up," Emma stated, "hope you feel better soon crazy sister." Regina was really taken off guard when the blonde leant in and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm glad you're safe you know, you really worried us. Also, don't tell Robin but I like him much better when you're around."

Regina was still a little stunned at how accepting Robin's family had been of her and Emma acted as though they had always known one another. She liked how comfortable she could be around her, she had a similar vibe to her brother, but was maybe just a tiny bit less charming. "Thanks, Emma. Robin you don't have to stay you know; I'll probably be sleeping anyway."

"I'm staying, end of story."

"Fine, whatever you want," she huffed, trying to pretend as though she wasn't bothered. She was excited though, happy that he wanted to stay with her, he was looking out for her which showed her that he cared and she was almost certain that he wasn't just doing it to look good in front of his family. He obviously wanted to be there with her.

"Well, then we'll see you…"

"Excuse me, we have a two-visitor limit, there's a sign on the door, you're going to have to…"

"We're already going, I'm just saying goodbye to my son and daughter in law," Caroline scoffed. "Okay sweetie, we have to leave now. I hope you get a good night's rest here, though I doubt it. Graham I did tell you to bring those feather pillows and the silky blanket for poor Regina."

"Yeah you did and I told you that she'd be in here for one night," he murmured. It had been the first time he had spoken since their arrival and Regina found it a little odd. He normally didn't shut up but he had been silent with not a word to say. She wondered if it was because of the Marian thing, he was probably feeling awkward that it had all been raked back up again.

"It's fine honestly, the bed isn't too bad." She was still a little in shock at hearing Robin's mother saying that she was her daughter in law, she wasn't just yet but she would be.

At that comment, Robin scoffed and shook his head, "well, that's a lie if I ever heard one, I've only been sat here around an hour and my ass is already numb."

"Oh dear, I'll go home and grab you a good blanket and pillow. I'll send them with Emma when she comes to pick Robin up later."

"Thank you, Caroline," Regina smiled as the older woman leant in and pressed a kiss to her cheek before giving her hand a loving squeeze.

"We'll see you tomorrow then sweetheart."

"Hopefully yes." She knew that it was Robin's grandfather's actual birthday tomorrow and she definitely wanted to be out of the hospital by then, there was no way Robin was going to miss the one thing he had come up to Yorkshire for because of her.

"Whatever the doctor says is what she will be doing."

"Bossy," Regina scoffed, looking up at Robin who was giving her a no-nonsense look, he was very adamant that she wasn't going to be leaving the hospital until the doctors deemed her fit to do so, until then she would be trapped there. She prayed that she would only be in there for one night.

"He is right though Regina, they are just looking out for you and doing their job."

"Madam, I'm really sorry but some of you are going to have to leave," the same awkward nurse stated as she came back into the room. She clearly felt uncomfortable turfing out visitors but there were rules and she was just following them; she was doing her job but it seemed the Locksley brood were intent on mostly ignoring her. Regina was feeling really tired and was actually ready for them to get going so that she could be getting some sleep.

"We're on our way out lady, take a chill pill," Emma huffed, looking to Regina and rolling her eyes, "see you later clumsy."

"That better not be my new nickname."

"It might be, I mean who falls down a ravine."

"I didn't know it was there."

"That wasn't the point I was making; you still fell down it."

"I skidded and I didn't realise there was a steep banking, I'm not clumsy."

"I'm just teasing you, god you and Robin are so easy to wind up," the blonde laughed, looking to her other two brothers, "right, come on you lot we better get back to work, that farm won't tend to itself, we can't all lounge in hospital with broken legs."

"Shut up," Robin chuckled, "get out of here. Regina needs to rest and you certainly aren't helping."

"Oh, and you are? You're probably distracting her from resting with other things, I bet…"

"Right that is quite enough of that, off we go," Caroline groaned, corralling three of her four children towards the doors. "If you need anything Robin just let us know and I'll send it with Emma. Rest up dear, we're all glad that you're safe."

Once they left, Regina hobbled to a bathroom with Robin's help, in order to change into the clothes they had brought for her. They were much too big but very cosy and snuggly, she was almost drowning in the sweater and had to pull the strings on the pants extra tight so that they didn't fall down.

"Oh my god, do you even know how cute you look in my clothes?"

"I'm sure I don't look cute right now," she scoffed, leaning against him as they slowly made their way back to the ward. She was glad to get out of the room, even if it had only been for a few minutes. It felt so stuffy in there, so clinical but in a different way to her laboratory. She felt exhausted and her body was aching, she was so ready for a good sleep, even if the bed wasn't all that comfortable.

"You do," he grinned, giving her a little squeeze as he helped her up onto her bed. "I think you need to sleep now."

"Oh, I definitely do," she nodded, closing her eyes as she leant back. Robin slipped back into the place he had been before, allowing her to curl into him. It was strange how they had fallen into their respective roles so easily; it had started a little the night before, but after the accident, they had become a lot closer, much touchy-feely. She liked it, it felt nice to be taken care of by him. Her eyes fluttered closed as she buried her face against his chest, she could feel herself falling asleep and was trying to fight against it but it wasn't much use, she couldn't stop herself from drifting off.

* * *

**5 Hours Later**

"Sir I really am going to have to ask you to leave, visiting time finished an hour and a half ago. The doctor will be making his rounds soon."

Regina watched as robin nodded and extracted himself from where he had been sandwiched onto her bed for the past five hours. "Sorry. I was hoping that I'd been able to hide here overnight," he chuckled as he collected a few things from the chair he should have been sitting in. "I almost forgot, Emma dropped off your phone whilst you were asleep, she thought you might want it."

"Yes, thank you," she smiled, taking the device from him, their fingers brushing as he placed the mobile in her hand. He looked into her eyes as his hand lingered there for a moment.

"I'll be back as soon as visiting hours start again in the morning."

"You better be, I still can't believe you're leaving me in here alone."

"We've already been through this," he chuckled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She was tempted to lean in and kiss him but didn't want to be too foreword, she also didn't want their first kiss to be in a hospital whilst she was wearing his pyjamas. Instead, she opted to press her lips to his cheek and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you again, for rescuing me. Can you give Meg a cuddle from me?"

"Trust me she'll be getting more than a cuddle for helping me get to you, I'm thinking a gift basket, what do you think?" Robin smirked.

"Sounds perfect, I'm sure she'll love it," Regina giggled, "make sure that it has all of her favourites in."

"Of course, she's going to be getting so many bones she won't know what to do with them."

"Good."

"Sir, you really do need to leave before we get in trouble," the same nurse stated as she appeared in the doorway of the ward.

"On my way out. Sorry," he sighed, "anything else you need me to bring you in the morning?"

"Pancakes? With maple syrup."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, I like pancakes."

"Okay, then I'll see what I can do. I better be going before she has security throw me out."

"Yes, you better."

"Sleep well."

"You too."

"Goodnight Gina."

"Night Robin," she smiled, watching as he moved towards the door before leaving her alone. Well, she wasn't exactly alone and she became well aware of that when she looked around and found two pairs of eyes on her, one set from the woman in the bed opposite her and the other from the bed to her left. "Hi."

"Hello dear. Quite the young man you have there."

"Yes, I suppose so."

"You know he hasn't left your side since he came in earlier today. Even when you were asleep, he didn't move," the other lady quipped, flashing Regina a cheeky smile. "Running his fingers through your hair none stop he was, weren't he Maurine."

"Aye, he was, seems a very caring lad."

"Sorry I didn't quite catch your name." Regina quipped, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looked to the woman in the bed opposite her, she already knew the name of the woman beside her.

"Shelia, and yours?"

"Regina," she nodded.

"You're American?"

"Yes, I'm originally from Maine, but now I live in London."

"So, how did you end up in this pickle?" Maurine asked, picking up a comb from the bedside table and pulling it through her white curls, her blue eyes looking at her with interest. The two old ladies clearly wanted to know more about her and she needed a way to pass the time without Robin there.

"Well, it's a long story really. My fiancé and I came up here for his grandfather's birthday. I was taking his parent's dog for a walk and got caught in the storm, then I fell, so that's how I ended up here."

"Ooh my, that's a lot more dramatic than my story," Shelia quipped, "I tripped down the front step at home." Well, that explained the black eye, poor lady. "My husband dropped me off at hospital and buggered off to watch Pointless. God forbid he miss it."

"Men are like that you see."

Regina smiled awkwardly; she didn't really know what to say in response. The old ladies carried on with the back and forth, whilst the other woman in the room continued to sleep, Regina hadn't seen her awake since she had been admitted she wondered what it was that was wrong with her. It was then that her phone lit up from her bedside table, she leant over and picked it up seeing a message from Robin.

She grinned to herself and opened it to find a picture of Robin in the middle of the supermarket with a basket full of dog treats and things to put on top of her pancakes in the morning.

**R.L: Think this is enough stuff? ;)**

Regina chuckled to herself as she typed out her reply.

**R.M: Yes, though I'm not sure she will like strawberries and maple syrup. :P**

**R.L: Ha, what about you? Fancy these beef and cheese curls? Or maybe the marrow filled bones? Think you'll like them?**

**R.M: Gross. I'll take the strawberries and maple syrup instead. **

**R.L: Good, I'll make sure to bring them with your special breakfast in the morning. **

**R.M: Looking forward to it.**

**R.L: You doing okay all alone there? **

**R.M: You might be surprised to know that I'm making new friends. **

**R.L: Wait, Regina Mills making friends? You could have prepared me for that. ;)**

**R.M: Hardy har. You better get those treats to Meg, see you tomorrow with my breakfast. **

**R.L: Sure thing. Have fun with your old biddies. **

**R.M: Oh I am loving this quality time with Maurine and Sheila, they are very nice women. ;) Good night Robin. **

**R.L: Night Gina. **

"Is that your fiancé?" Maurine asked as Regina grinned like an idiot as she looked at her phone.

"Yes, he's just checking in to make sure that I'm okay," she quipped, wincing as she moved lower into the bed. It felt as though her pain medication was starting to wear off, the dull throb she had been experiencing all day had now turned into a sharp stinging pain. It probably didn't help that the bed was pretty uncomfortable.

It was then that the doctor she had seen earlier entered the room, smiling at her before picking up her chart from the end of the bed, "Miss Mills, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine thanks," she murmured, trying to sit up again and gasping at the intensity of the pain shooting through her ribs and across her abdomen.

"Hmm, nurse, I think we need to up Miss Mills' pain medication. Have you experienced any trouble breathing or shortness of breath?"

"Only when I try to move."

"That would most likely be the broken ribs. I don't think you have pneumonia, but as I said earlier, I would rather keep you in just to be on the safe side. How is your ankle feeling?"

"Numb, my ribs are the worst."

"Yes, I'm not surprised, you've broken them pretty badly and the bruising doesn't help," he stated, placing her chart back where it belonged, "the nurse will be upping your dose of pain relief, so hopefully you should be feeling much better, it will help you fall asleep."

"Good, knock me out," she chuckled, watching as he moved on to Maurine without so much as another word. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and listened as he went around the room from patient to patient, asked them similar questioned to the ones he asked her, only altered to fit their predicament. It seemed that Maurine had suffered a cardiac arrest a couple of days ago and was recovering from that, as for the other woman she didn't know the name of, it seemed she had been involved in a car crash.

Once the doctor left, the awkward nurse from earlier that day re-entered the room, "excuse me, Miss Mills."

"Hi," Regina looked up, seeing the woman stood there with a familiar-looking blanket and cushion.

"We don't normally allow this, but your fiancé was rather insistent that we get these to you," she passed her the feather pillow before holding the blanket in her hands, "would you like me to put this over you?"

"Please," Regina nodded, "thank you." Oh thank god, the pillow felt like heaven, as though her head had fallen into a cloud, and the blanket was soft and fluffy with mustard velvet on the outside and wool on the inside. She snuggled underneath it and immediately felt so much more comfortable, it also smelt like Robin. It had been the blanket he had been sleeping with whilst he had been banished to the floor so it was flooded with his scent, she held it to her nose and took a deep breath of the pine smell embedded into the fibres.

"I'll be back soon to administer your pain medications."

Regina offered her a smile as she cuddled into the blanket, finding her phone again, only to discover that she had a couple of missed calls from her mother which was odd. The woman normally called her once a month to check-in, but that call wasn't due for another week or so, for her to try ringing her more than once was unheard of. She took a deep breath before unlocking her mobile and reluctantly dialling her mother's number.

**"Regina!" **

"Mother."

**"Regina, where are you?" **

"What do you mean?"

**"You weren't answering on your house phone, I called you multiple times."** Her mother normally phoned her on the landline, so she probably just received her voicemail.

"I'm not at home. What's going on?"

**"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to my daughter, is that such a crime?" **

"No, it's just odd that you would go out of your way to talk to me."

**"Well, I actually have some news for you." **

"What is it? Is Daddy alright?" Regina asked, she felt panicked now, her mother never just called her out of the blue, they had a schedule and that woman loved order, so for her to break that it must be something.

**"Your father is fine." **

"Miss Mills we have your medication now if you're ready," the nurse reluctantly interrupted.

"Yes, thank you," she agreed, covering the mic on her phone, but apparently, she hadn't done it quick enough, her mother had heard.

**"Medication? What medication? Regina, where are you?" **

"Hospital, I'm in the hospital."

**"Hospital! Why are you in the hospital?" **

"I had an accident, but I'll be fine. I have a broken ankle and some broken ribs."

**"What sort of accident?" **

"Just a fall, the doctors said that I will be recovered in no time."

**"Well if you say so. Anyway, I was calling to let you know that your grandmother passed away. She has left you a couple of pieces in her will if you want them." **

Regina had to blink at the news and how her mother could simply tell her something like that in such a blasé tone. It was her mother's mother and to hear her casually state that she had died with almost no sorrow in her voice was insane. Regina may not have got along with her grandmother but it was still sad to hear that she had passed away, her mother didn't sound sad in the slightest. "Mother, are you alright?"

**"Of course, I'm alright, why wouldn't I be alright?" **

"Your mother has passed away; I think you're entitled to be upset."

**"Regina, do you want me to save your grandmother's things for you or not." **

"Yes, please. Though I don't know when I will be able to come and retrieve them."

**"You won't be coming over for the funeral? This is your grandmother, why won't you be coming home to see her buried?" **

Regina took a deep breath, she knew that it would sound awful that she wasn't going to be there for it, but she simply couldn't. It didn't matter that the woman had been heinous towards her for her entire life, it was the citizenship issue, she wasn't allowed to leave the country, if she did, she wouldn't be let back in. "I'm sorry, I really won't be able to come. I'm having a bit of an issue with my visa. I can't leave the UK."

**"Issue? What issue? Why didn't you tell us sooner?" **

"Mother, it doesn't matter I'm dealing with it."

**"You should have told your father; he could have been in touch with someone at the embassy and had all of this straightened out." **

"I can sort my own problems out," it would have been easy for her to run to her parents and ask for their help and sure they would have most likely been able to sort the problem out for her, but she didn't want to have to rely on them, she wanted to be self-sufficient. The last thing she wanted was to run to her parents when things got tough.

**"You are a stubborn girl. Sometimes I just can't speak to you. Henry, talk to your daughter." **

Regina waited a moment as she heard shuffling on the other end of the phone, signalling that it was being passed to her father, something she was more than happy about. She could talk to him, he would listen to her properly in a way her mother didn't, he always had. He was more understanding, more caring and she knew she could rely on him to give her the right advice.

_"Regina, sweetheart." _

"Hi daddy," she smiled, a small tear coming to her eye at the sound of his voice. After his health scare earlier that year, he had given up his political career and taken an early retirement, much to the chagrin of her mother. Regina was just happy that he was healthy and well.

_"You're in the hospital. What happened, are you alright?" _

"Yes, I'm fine, I fell that's all. Robin made sure that I got the help I needed."

_"Robin?" _

"Hmm, my fiancé," she smiled to herself.

_"Fiancé?" _

**"Fiancé?! Henry put the phone on speaker! Regina Maria Mills! Did you not think to tell your family about an engagement?! We didn't even know you were seeing anyone!" **

"Well, he proposed last week and I…"

**"He? You're marrying a man, thank god! At least that's something I suppose. Did you grow out of that silly phase?" **

Regina rolled her eyes; she had wanted to tell her father about Robin and her mother was going to blow it up into something it wasn't. She also seemingly couldn't resist adding in a little dig about her sexuality. "It wasn't a phase mother, I like people for who they are, not for what their gender is," she huffed, "and I just happen to like Robin, love him even."

**"Is he wealthy?" **

_"Cora, stop." _

**"It is an important question, Henry. Our daughter can't marry just anyone." **

"Last time I checked I could do whatever I wanted and marry whomever I please," she groaned. Why had she brought it up? She was also beginning to feel a little drowsy from the pain meds she had been given. "I'm tired now, can I get back to you later?"

_"Of course, darling."_

**"Our conversation isn't finished, Regina you need to be sensible and think about your union properly. You need to pick a good husband, someone who is worthy of marrying a Mills." **

"Robin is more than worthy. I'm sorry to hear about grandmother, but I really do have to go before I fall asleep on the phone." With that she ended the call and placed her phone on her bedside table, staring up at the ceiling she took a deep breath, the two old women were still chatting back and forth as though they had known each other forever. She didn't want to be in that room, she wanted to be back with Robin, or back home in London. It felt almost like boarding school all over again, having to share a room with strangers, sure they seemed nice enough but they were strangers none the less.

She missed Robin.

She didn't know if she had any right to, but she did. In the short amount of time they had been up north, she had grown comfortable around him, used to having him with her. She was always fond of him, but something had happened on this trip, it was like a switch had been flicked and her feelings had been intensified. Her eyes fluttered closed as she blocked out the ladies voices and tried to imagine that she was back there at the farmhouse, snuggled up in Robin's arms.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

It was a loud noise which awoke Regina the next morning and unfortunately, it wasn't a simply cockerel outside the window. No, it was a nosy metal trolly being pushed down the corridor, its contents rattling as doors were opened and slammed signalling the nurses and doctors starting their morning rounds. She groaned and buried her head further into Robin's pillow, despite the uncomfortable bed she had slept through the night, though the strong pain meds they had her on were probably responsible for that. Robin's pillow couldn't have hurt either.

The noises continued, if anything getting louder rather than quieter, she could hear the two old ladies from the night before cursing about it but couldn't bring herself to laugh at them for it. She'd be more likely to join them in their grumbling; everyone knew that she wasn't a morning person and being injured made her hate mornings even more. She reached blindly for her phone as she pulled the yellow woollen blanket up over her head and tapped the screen to see the time. It read half six in the morning and literally made her want to curl up and hide away from the world.

When she was back home in her apartment and her alarm went off, she would always force herself out of bed and the first thing she would do, before anything else, was grab herself a large caffeinated beverage. She was guessing that they weren't on offer in here, she would probably be served tea or water which was just a complete travesty. Regina wondered how long it would be before Robin showed up and she was discharged because she didn't think she would be able to stay in the room for much longer, it was beginning to drive her a little crazy.

After a few more minutes hiding under her blanket, she forced herself to sit up in the bed, only to find two pairs of eyes on her as the old ladies in the bed opposite and next to her stared. "Good morning," she stated, clearing her throat and moving her hand to her hair, feeling just how wild it was, she didn't have a mirror, but she didn't need one to know that her natural curls were all over the place. She also found it hurt her just to raise her hand that high.

"Morning dear," one of them quipped, she couldn't remember if it was Shelia or Maurine.

She simply nodded at them, glancing around the room. After sitting up she realised how much she actually needed the bathroom, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to get there on her own with her ankle how it was. With a sigh, she carefully moved her legs over one edge of the bed and reached out for the pair of crutches which were resting against the visitor's chair. She also grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and shoved them in the large pockets of Robin's slacks.

"Oh, be careful darling, the nurses will have your head if they see you up and moving alone," the other lady laughed.

Regina looked over to her, somehow, she was already fully made up with her hair perfectly groomed. She had no idea how they summoned the effort, right at this moment she didn't really care what she looked like. She slowly made her way out onto the corridor, struggling to get the hang of walking with the crutches, it also hurt her ribs any time she tried move. So, the whole experience was painful and awkward, she wished she had just called for a nurse, but she wanted to prove that she was ready to be discharged, she really couldn't stay there any longer.

She was halfway to the bathroom when she heard her name called. "Miss Mills! You should not be out of bed," the nurse admonished, hurrying over to her side. Regina rolled her eyes at her as she held onto the lady who made her sit down on one of the chairs that littered the sides of the corridor. "Wait there, I'll be back with a chair."

"I don't need a chair," Regina called after her, but she was already gone. "What I need is the bathroom," she murmured under her breath, "and to clean my teeth. And possibly stop being smothered."

"Right Miss Mills, let's get you into the chair."

"God, anyone would think I was eighty years old," she huffed, batting the woman's hand away as she carefully lowered herself into the wheelchair.

"No, you're just an injured woman who is too stubborn to accept help when its offered," the nurse scoffed, giving back as good as she got. "Now, let me guess, bathroom?"

"Yes please," Regina cleared her throat, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I get it, you want to be independent, but this is our job, we want to make sure that you don't hurt yourself any more by doing things prematurely. It's not a weakness to allow people to help you now and then, especially when your injuries are as serious as yours are."

"Sorry," she mumbled. She had known that she was being stupid and the nurse was right to put her in her place, she was just looking out for her at the end of the day. The woman probably saw patients do silly things like that all the time and was tired of it, Regina wouldn't blame her snapping. "But one thing I can certainly do on my own is actually go to the bathroom, so if you don't mind."

"I'll be back to get you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Regina nodded, shakily standing from the chair again as she made her way into the stall and locked it behind her. She closed her eyes as she tried to block out the pain radiating from her ribs, any time she made the slightest movement they were just in agony, she didn't think she had ever felt such pain before. Her ankle was also throbbing underneath the cast her whole-body aching, she felt as though she needed to sleep for around a thousand years.

Rest and pain meds would probably be the answer to her problems. She just hoped that they let her out of the hospital so she could rest up back at Robin's parent's house. At least she didn't have to share a room with strangers there, even if she did have to share one with Robin. That wasn't so bad anyway.

* * *

A couple of hours later and she was all medicated up and back to sleeping once again, this time instead of being woken rudely. The thing that woke her was the feeling of someone gently touching her face, she hummed and opened her eyes, seeing Robin looking back at her, "hey there sleepy head."

"You better have brought those pancakes," she grumbled, a small smile pulling at her lips as she looked at him.

"Ah, about that."

"Hey! You didn't bring my pancakes?! Robin." How dare he, he had promised her the night before that there would be pancakes there for her when she woke up and now, he was here with no pancakes in hand and she was disappointed. "Well, I guess I'll just have to have the awful hospital breakfast," she scoffed, pulling a disgusted expression which had him chuckling at her.

"Actually, I have something even better than pancakes?"

"What is it? An actual cake?"

"Nope, they said that you are okay to be discharged," he grinned.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him, he was right, that was better than pancakes, "you're not kidding?"

"No, the nurse told me that the doctor was just signing off your paperwork and getting your prescriptions ready, then you're set to go."

"Thank god," she groaned, sitting up in bed and running her hands over her face. She was still tired from the pain medication but she was excited at the prospect of being allowed out. She winced as she straightened up and tried to get out of bed, but she couldn't quite manage, letting out a little yelp at the pain that shot through her body.

"Regina."

"I'm fine, just a twang that's all," she quipped. She knew that she was going to have a problem changing her clothes before they headed back to Robin's. She couldn't really raise her arms so it was going to be a struggle. Reluctantly she looked to Robin, "um, I…"

"Do you need help?"

"Yes please," she whispered.

Robin nodded and pulled on the flimsy curtain, giving them both a bit of privacy. It wasn't as though he hadn't ever seen her body, he'd seen it earlier that week when she had forgotten her towel and then she had actually been naked, at least she could properly cover herself up.

"Would you please be able to help me with that shirt?" Regina asked, pointing to another of Robin's shirts that his mother had brought her, he cast her a smirk probably because she was wanting to wear one of his shirts instead of her own, but she had reasons other than it smelling really nice. "My clothes are too tight and I'm in too much pain to have them pressing against me," she excused, it was a valid point, she was bruised all the way up and down her body with some swollen cuts here and there, she needed something baggy that wasn't going to hurt her.

She tried to take her shirt off but gasped as she did, her hands pressing to her ribs, hoping to relieve some of the awful sensations, it took her breath away and not in a good way.

"Okay, stop, hands down," Robin sighed, a sympathetic expression on his face as he moved closer to her, taking the hem of her shirt in his hands, "may I?"

"Yes," she mumbled, watching his hands as he carefully manoeuvred it over her head before slowly sliding it down her arms, being mindful of all her injuries. When she looked back up at him, he was staring at her wounds with a shocked expression on his face, it wasn't how she had imagined him looking at her when she was sat there half-naked.

"Shit. God Regina."

"Come on, help me get the clean shirt on."

"No wonder you're hurting."

"Robin."

"Sorry, yeah," he cleared his throat, reaching out for the clean shirt. He was still looking at the bruises, they were almost black in colour and littered her entire right side with smaller cuts and other bruises all over the rest of her upper body. She was well aware that it looked bad, she could certainly admit that. Making sure to be very gentle he helped her get her head through the neck hole, before ensuring that her arms were carefully slipped into place. "There we go."

She knew what was coming next, the top half was bad enough, but they were going to have to tackle the bottom half. "Don't look," she ordered, wriggling out of the slacks and underwear she'd had on, before clearing her throat, "please could you pass me the bag."

"What are you doing? You better not be pushing yourself too far."

"I'm fine," Regina scoffed as he placed the bag down on the bed beside her, luckily the shirt she was wearing covered her modesty. She routed in the bag for a fresh pair of panties before struggling into them, at least once she had those on, she would be able to ask Robin for help with a clean pair of joggers. "Rob…"

She didn't even have the chance to ask him before he was grabbing the slacks and helping her pull them up her legs, running his fingers through his hair once she was fully dressed. They had literally just finished when one of the nurses opened the curtain.

"Knock knock. Miss Mills, so we have your prescriptions here. You'll have to take these pain relief three times a day for the next week, if they aren't strong enough you can call your doctor and talk about upping them. As for your cast, you'll have to organise with your local hospital to make an appointment to have it taken off in six weeks, they will do a scan to check how it's healed and inform you of your treatment from there. We've just got a couple of forms for you to sign and then you're free to go."

"Thank you," Regina nodded, offering the woman a tight smile. Once she'd gone Regina turned back to Robin, "right, let's get out of here."

"You don't hang about do you," Robin chuckled, grabbing the wheelchair from where the nurse had left it earlier that morning.

"I do not need that thing."

"Get your ass in here."

"I don't need that thing! Pass me the crutches please."

Shaking his head, he stepped towards her and before she could even comprehend what he was doing, he scooped her up from where she was sat. "Robin!" she squealed as he caught her off guard, if people on the ward hadn't been awake before, they certainly were now with the volume of her reaction. "Robin! Put me down right now or so help me god," she growled.

Robin clearly wasn't listening to a word she said and instead of putting her back down where she had wanted to be placed, he carefully lowered her into the wheelchair much to her fury. "Stop being so stubborn and sit nicely," he huffed, scooping up all of her stuff and depositing the blanket and pillow on her lap as he slung her bag over his shoulder. "Now, say goodbye to your friends," Robin chuckled softly.

"Shut up," she murmured before turning to the old ladies who were watching their every move, "I wish you both a speedy recovery."

"You too dear," they nodded.

"Get me out of here," Regina breathed under her breath so that only Robin could hear, whilst continuing to put on the false smile to the two women. He did as she asked and within ten minutes they were already out of the main entrance, the fresh air hit her and she took a deep breath. The rain from the day before had passed, leaving behind a cool breeze, but it was nice, anything was nicer than that stuffy hospital room. She hummed in satisfaction before turning her head to look up at Robin, offering him a shy smile. "God it's good to be out of there."

"It's good to have you out of there," Robin nodded, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze as they looked at one another.

"Oh hell! The girls in a wheelchair? Did you lose your legs? Did they do an overnight amputation?" Emma's snicker met their ears as they saw her wind down the window of her car as she pulled up at the drop-off/pick-up sight.

"Very funny," Regina rolled her eyes as Robin simply placed her stuff in the trunk of the car, "I think I'd probably still be able to take you on," she grinned, though it probably wasn't the truth, she was actually feeling quite weak, not that she wanted to admit that to anyone. Her body was healing but it had drained her almost completely.

"Can I pick you up or are you going to try and fight me as well as Emma?" Robin chuckled, he'd opened one of the back doors ready to help her in, but she didn't want to seem as weak as she was. She didn't want him to have to do everything for her, he'd already had to dress her that morning and that was embarrassing enough.

"I think I can manage to get into the car," she scoffed, moving to push herself up, Robin immediately reached out for her and helped her into the car. Once she was inside, he went to put her seatbelt on for her, only for her to swat his hand away, "too far."

"Sorry," he smirked, closing the door as he tackled getting the borrowed wheelchair into the boot of the car, struggling to fold it up. Both Emma and Regina watched him from the window, Regina found herself trying to stop the laughter from bubbling up but she couldn't help it, she had no idea what he was doing. "Need a hand there?" she asked as she rolled down the window.

"I can manage it," he quipped, still fighting with the metal frame of the chair.

"Emma go help him, I can't bear to watch him do it anymore," she wheezed, it hurt to laugh but she couldn't stop it.

"No, Emma, I got this," Robin shook his head, kicking his foot against the part that was supposed to close the chair, it clearly wasn't working for him at all.

Both women were in hysterics as they laughed at him, bless his little heart, he was trying so hard to make it collapse and it just wasn't doing it. It was probably such an easy task but he had tried to be clever with her and karma was kicking his ass. "I don't think you do dear. Maybe you should let someone more competent have a go."

"Robin, you're really making yourself look like an idiot," Emma sniggered, unclipping her seatbelt before stepping out of the car and moving towards him. "Gimmie that."

"I can do it."

"No, you really can't," she grinned, winking at Regina as she took the chair from him and with one simple move, she had it collapsed and folded up. "Wow, you're so accomplished, it's embarrassing," the blonde laughed, handing it back to him before getting back in the car.

Robin rubbed a hand over the back of his head before putting the chair in the boot and getting into the car beside Regina.

"What? Scared I'm going to roast your ass if you sit next to me?" Emma smirked, looking over her shoulder at them as she started the engine and began to pull out of the car park.

"Are you serious? If you think you're good at roasting, you clearly haven't met my fiancé, she is the queen of roasting."

"I didn't say a word," Regina shrugged, he had a point, she had so many remarks on the tip of her tongue, but she was going to hold them in. That and she didn't know if she had the energy for banter, maybe later when she felt more rested. Closing her eyes, she relaxed back into the chair, she felt Robin touch her hand gently and turned to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Just tired that's all," she whispered, allowing him to join their fingers. She wasn't going to pull away from it, it was nice to feel his hand in hers, just having his support meant the world to her. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked.

Regina was trying to block out the obnoxiously loud singing coming from the driving seat as Emma sang along to the radio. "Just… being here for me. I know how difficult I can be sometimes."

"I want to be there for you Regina, I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," she smiled, glancing away from him again and closing her eyes. Their hands remained linked for the entire car ride and she was almost asleep by the time they got back to the farmhouse. Robin and Emma had been bantering the whole way there and at times she had added a comment to the conversation, but for the most part, she had remained quiet.

"We're here," Robin whispered, making her open her eyes as she straightened up a little in her seat. Caroline was stood outside the front door, she had clearly been waiting for their arrival, that was made even more evident when she opened the door at Regina's side of the car.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so glad that you're back."

"Glad to be back," Regina hummed. Robin's fingers had dropped from her own and he had hopped out of the car, hurrying over to her side and she knew that he was about to try and pick her up yet again. Before he could even try, she held onto Caroline's arm, "please could you help me out?"

"Regina I…"

"Robin, I can do this," with that she manoeuvred herself out of the car, carefully standing up whilst leaning against the older woman. She had been sat in the car for a while and now and felt extremely stiff, as soon as she got out, she wished she had just let Robin carry her, but she was stubborn that way. Instead, he moved to her other side so that she could hold onto both of them as they helped her inside.

"Ems, can you grab her stuff please?" Robin asked, receiving a nod from the blonde in response. "Bedroom or sitting room?" Robin questioned as they entered the house.

She thought about it for a moment, if she were in the sitting room she would most likely have people all over her and pandering to her every move, she didn't know if she could bear it, all she wanted was a good lay down in Robin's nice comfortable bed, so she guessed her mind was made up. She didn't want to feel rude or like an introvert for not staying downstairs with the rest of the family, but she just couldn't stomach it. "Bedroom please," Regina murmured.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs though she looked up and took a deep breath, there was not a chance she was walking up there. Her body wouldn't allow it and unfortunately, she knew it, Robin did too by the way they had simply stopped moving. "Please let me just carry you. I'm serious, I really don't want you hurting yourself because you feel like you have something to prove."

"Just pick me up already," she huffed, allowing him to carefully lift her bridal style, making sure to be cautious of her wounds. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding on as he went slowly up the stairs; she was aware that both Caroline and Emma had stayed downstairs, well, Emma had stopped Caroline from following them up. "God I would die for a bath right now," Regina murmured as they walked past the bathroom.

"What about the cast though? You can't get it wet."

"I know," she groaned, warm water sounded like heaven though and she wanted to wash off the feeling of being in the hospital.

Robin sighed before turning around and heading back to the bathroom, sitting her on the closed toilet seat, "wait there. Don't move."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Regina asked with a light chuckle, she was also extremely curious as to what he was doing. He disappeared from the room, leaving her sat there. She didn't know what he was planning, but if it got her clean, she didn't really care, she really needed to freshen up.

She was sat there for probably around ten minutes before he re-emerged again holding a plethora of plastic bin bags, duct tape and a set of what looked like straps.

"I don't know what you heard, but I'm not all that into bondage," she quipped as he knelt on the ground and pushed up the baggy leg of her pants before wrapping a couple of the bags around the cast, making sure to tape them up. So that part was obvious, but what the hell were the other things for. "What are you doing with that?"

"Ah, you'll see," he grinned, moving towards the clawfoot bathtub and getting to work, wrapping the straps around it and securing them underneath, he carried on that way until there were around ten of them all positioned a few inches apart. Once he was finished, he started running the water, using his fingers to test the temperature.

Regina simply watched him curiously and when the water was hovering a bit underneath the cords, he turned it off. Sure, the water was shallow, but she could tell that he was thinking about how much strain her leg would be under having to be elevated out of the water. She would be able to have a bath and that meant so much to her. "I actually can't believe you."

"You wanted a bath, you're gonna have a bath okay."

So that was the easy part, here came the hard one. It wasn't as though she was going to be able to take a bath with her clothes on, earlier that morning she had been able to hide her body slightly, but that wasn't going to be an option, she wouldn't be able to get in alone for one, he was going to have to lower her into the water which meant seeing everything.

He awkwardly helped her undress, trying to go as quickly as possible and averting his eyes as she peeled her underwear off. Once she was completely naked, she cleared her throat, deciding it was best to get it over with, "Robin, you can look, it's fine."

"I don't want to disrespect…"

"You've just been given permission to look at a naked woman and you're arguing with it? What kind of man are you?" Regina laughed, causing him to turn his head and look at her.

"Holy fuck," he groaned, "let's just get you into the water okay." He was doing a really strange look away but also look at the same time thing as he picked her up. She was super aware that his hand was close to her ass as he carried her and despite how tired she was she couldn't help but get a little turned on at the prospect.

He carefully ensured that her ankle was balancing on the straps whilst the rest of her body was under the water. The way he had done it ensure that her leg wasn't at a funny angle, it wasn't uncomfortable though and she could already feel the rest of her body starting to relax, even if she had winced when the water first brushed against her wounds. "Thank you," she hummed, leaning back and closing her eyes as she relaxed into the water.

"You're welcome, I'll leave you to it, if you need anything just give me a shout."

"I will," she smiled at him, watching him leave, quietly shutting the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, she felt herself begin to loosen up, she sunk further into the water, allowing herself to unwind. She was certainly going to enjoy it, the peace and quiet was reason enough and the hot water was another.

Regina had stayed in the bath until the water had gone cold, Robin had come in as soon as she had called for him, she couldn't help but wonder if he had literally been sat outside the door. It had occurred to her that the door to the bathroom wasn't locked, so maybe he had, it would be very like him. Once she was out, he had wrapped her up in a towel and helped her into the bedroom before assisting her in getting changed into a pair of his plaid pyjama bottoms and an oversized shirt.

When she was dressed, she had climbed into his bed, noticing that his mother had freshened up the sheets, they smelt so good and she couldn't help but sink into them, cuddling herself up into a little cocoon.

"You look comfortable," Robin chuckled, perching on the edge of the bed.

"I am."

He opened a cabinet opposite the bed, revealing a hidden Tv before passing her the remote, "it hasn't got Netflix or any of that stuff, but I'm sure you'll be able to find something to watch. I'm going to go make your breakfast."

"Pancakes?"

"With anything you want on them," Robin nodded with a wink, leaving her sat in the bed flicking through the channels to find a program worth watching.

Around five minutes later there was a knock on the door, all she saw was a flash of black and white as Meg darted inside and leapt up onto the bed, moving up closer to her, her tail wagging as she licked Regina's face happily, lying down beside her and resting her head on her chest. Emma was stood in the doorway with a grin on her face, "she loves you, she's so happy to see you."

"Aww, she's such a good girl, aren't you baby," Regina cooed, stroking Meg's head, her fingers scratching behind the dog's ear.

"Robin is downstairs messing up mum's kitchen, she'd going to kick his ass. He's good at cooking though so whatever he's making you will be delicious," she grinned, moving further into the room and climbing up onto the other side of the bed. "I've actually never seen him like this before."

"You've never seen him make pancakes before?" Regina grinned, glancing away from the television to Emma, only to find the serious look on the other woman's face.

"In love, I've never seen him in love before. Not properly anyway, he's never looked at anyone the way he looks at you."

"Oh."

"God, you should have seen him yesterday. He was so scared for you, none of us have ever witnessed that side of him."

Regina took a deep breath; it was strange to hear and she couldn't help wondering what was spurring on Robin's reaction. She wasn't exactly sure, ever since the night of his grandfather's party he had been acting differently. Something seemed to change between them, she didn't know how it happened, but there had been a shift she had felt it and it was scary. Just thinking about it scared her, she didn't know how she was going to go about it. "I'm lucky to have him," she whispered.

"Well milady, I have your pancakes," Robin quipped as he came through the door, holding a tray ladened with different foods. He stopped still when he spotted that Regina wasn't alone in the room, "Emma."

"Hey, I was just keeping Regina company whilst you were downstairs," she grinned, standing up, "I'll leave you guys to it." On her way out she leaned over and grabbed one of the pancakes from the tray before hurrying out, knowing that she was about to get yelled at by her brother.

"Emma! You little brat! Stealing an injured woman's breakfast! Not cool!" he shouted after her before turning to look at Regina. She was chuckling at him, she couldn't help it, it was cute seeing him interact with his sister, it was almost as if the two of them regressed to children when they were around one another.

"Just let her have that one, I just have an extra one from your plate," she smirked, tucking her hair behind her ear as her fingers continued to run through Meg's fur, the dog had fallen asleep beside her, curled up closely.

"God she's getting attached to you. It's weird, she doesn't normally like new people," Robin stated, moving to the place Emma had been in before and placing the tray of food on the bedside table. He passed her a plate of pancakes, "so what toppings would you like? We have maple syrup, chocolate syrup, Nutella, lemon and sugar, fruit, whatever you want I probably have it and if I don't have it up here, I can go back downstairs and…"

"Maple syrup sounds perfect. These look amazing, I just hope you're not trying to poison me, I mean if you wanted to kill me you may as well have just left me down the ravine," Regina grinned. Her bath had given her a renewed sense of humour and she was ready to lay all of her sarcasm on him, there had been so many jibes she had missed out on during the car ride home and now she was feeling a little comfier she felt them tumbling out.

"Trust me, I don't want you dead, quite the opposite," he shrugged, grabbing the bottle of syrup and passing her both that and the bowl of strawberries, allowing her to take what she wanted to top off her pancakes.

"That so? I think you must have had a change of heart since the last time I made you work late."

"Ah, well, I don't think I'll mind working late as much from now on," Robin murmured, eating a piece of fruit and avoiding her eye.

She could feel something from him and just wasn't sure what to do about it, in a way she was happy that there was a dog between them, she didn't trust herself around him anymore. There was a part of her that just wanted to touch him, she wanted to be in contact with him, it was comforting, but she didn't want to push it too far or make him uncomfortable. "Well I'll remember that as soon as we're back to work, maybe schedule in some late nights."

"What will people think Miss Mills, you scheduling in late nights in the lab with your fiancé?" Robin grinned, he certainly wasn't avoiding her eyes any more, in fact, if she didn't know any better, she might have thought that he was flirting with her, maybe he wasn't but she couldn't stop herself from taking the bait.

"Well, I'd assume they might think we were using the time for extracurricular activities and maybe doing a few personal experiments," she shrugged, offering him a smirk which was less than innocent. "They'd be wrong though, wouldn't they?"

At that she could have sworn that he murmured "unfortunately" under his breath, but she couldn't be sure. He didn't give any other answer though, a few months ago she was pretty certain that he'd hated her, now though it seemed as though he maybe cared for her.

"Anyway, did you find something to watch?" Robin asked, stealing the remote for her and chancing the channel, flicking through several before she stopped him.

"Wait! This, I want to watch this."

"Bargain Hunt?"

"I like Bargain Hunt," she smiled taking a bite of her pancakes and moaning at the taste. "Oh my god, why did I not know that you could cook like this?" she questioned, covering her mouth a little as she stared at him, if she had known she would have had him on breakfast duty every morning. "You do realise that I will be expecting a yummy breakfast every day now."

"Pfft, I don't think so, as soon as you're better you'll be making something for me."

"Trust me you don't want that, I can't cook."

"Seriously? You can't follow a recipe?"

"No."

"You're a scientist."

"And?"

"You create new medicines and have to follow strict formulas, so how come you can't follow a recipe?"

"I can make apple turnovers and lasagna, that's it. Unless you count frozen pizza."

"Good thing I like lasagna and apple turnovers," Robin grinned. They finished their pancakes as they watched bargain hunt, both of them making the odd comment about the things they were buying on the show.

"They aren't going to make a profit on any of those," Regina shook her head as she looked at the items the blue team had bought. A rusty old pot, a china doll and a vase with a repaired crack, "we could have done better than that, I bet they get losses on each item."

"How often do you watch this program?" he chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee before he laid down properly on the bed, she did the same, snuggling against the dog next to her.

"Not often, sometimes I have in on in the background whilst I'm doing paperwork."

"Oh wow, you're really treating yourself there."

"This is probably the longest time I've gone without doing work in the last six years."

"You're obsessed with your job."

"It's an important job."

"True, but you could probably give yourself more of a break, you deserve it with how hard you work."

"Maybe," she yawned, closing her eyes. Now she'd had a bath and her tummy was full she felt all warm and fuzzy, the tiredness had come back, but she'd also had a dose of her pain relief so that had probably made her drowsier. She could feel herself falling asleep but she wanted to watch the program, she wanted to see how much they got for the items.

"You're going."

"No, I'm not."

"I can see your eyes closing," Robin chuckled, "you should sleep, I can tell you what happens."

"No," she shook her head, blinking her eyes and forcing herself awake, "I want to see."

She'd almost drifted off when there was a knock on the door, Meg's head shot up and tilted as she stared at the door waiting to see who would be behind it. "Hello, sorry to bother you both," Caroline whispered as she peeked inside, "I brought you some more drinks and snacks for if you need them," she stated, moving inside and placing the tray on Regina's side. "How are you feeling darling?" The older woman perched on the edge of the bed beside Regina, her hand moving out to stroke the dog who was seemingly fighting for her attention also.

"Tired but better to be back here," she smiled, "thank you for everything."

"Oh sweetheart, you don't have to thank me, you're family."

"Hmm," Regina nodded, she could feel her throat tighten and her nose beginning to fizz, she was begging herself not to cry in front of both Robin and his mother, she didn't want to make herself look stupid. It was a silly reason to be crying, well, more than one reason. There was a little bit of everything mixed up. Guilt, happiness, love, sadness. She felt guilty for lying to Robin's family. She felt both love and happiness for being accepted by them so easily. As for the sadness, that was probably because she was scared that it would come to an end, scared that once they were back in London she would be alone again.

"We're so happy that the two of you are getting married, maybe you'll be able to get him to come and visit us more often. Come up for Christmas or something."

"That sounds wonderful, or maybe you guys could come to us," she replied as Caroline reached out to take her hand, giving it a little squeeze. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who was emotional, the older woman also seemed to be welling up.

"Mum, you okay?" Robin asked.

"Of course, yes! It just… I'm just so glad that you're settling down, that you've found your other half. You really do look perfect together. As for coming down to London, I would love that, I haven't been in such a long time."

"Well, we should arrange it then, we can book some more time off at some point, we have quite a few holidays saved up," Regina stated, her cheeks blushing as she looked at Robin, feeling a little guilty. It was true, she probably had months and months of holiday time that she hadn't taken and he couldn't be far behind her. She didn't think she had taken a day's holiday in over four years, not including the time she'd had to go visit her father when he was sick.

"Certainly, maybe in a couple of months."

Robin nodded, "sounds good," he glanced at Regina, almost questioningly. He didn't seem annoyed by it, just a little surprised maybe. It was probably because he hadn't been expecting it, hell she hadn't been expecting to say it, it had just come out really. Once she had said it though she liked the sound of it, her own parents hadn't been to visit her once since she moved to London, so it would be nice having someone who cared about her want to come, someone she could show around her hometown.

If they knew the truth, they would hate her, probably as much as they hated Marian. There was that lump again, stinging the back of her throat. She liked them, she really did, they were nice people, Caroline, Emma, Robin's Grandparents, his Father, his brothers. They were all nice, maybe with the exception of David, but she was sure that given time she might be able to win him around. Just not if the truth ever got out, something that was most likely inevitable.

"Anyway, as well as dropping you off some nourishment, I actually came up here to grab Meg. We need her on the farm, I hate to take your little friend away, she also looks quite reluctant to leave your side, you'd made quite the impression on her, much like you have on the rest of us." Caroline chuckled, letting go of Regina's hand but not before giving it a little squeeze. "Come on girl, let's go," she whistled, gesturing for the dog to get down of the bed.

Meg made a grumbling noise as she snuggled closer to Regina, Robin's mother whistled again and this time she reluctantly stood from her position, bumping her wet nose against Regina's shoulder and giving her a little lick before leaping off the bed and elegantly padding out of the door. "She's protective of you. I'll leave you to it, will you be wanting some supper or are you sorting something Robin? Obviously I'm assuming you won't be coming to the meal tonight, do you want me to cook you something before we go?"

"No I think we…"

"Robin, you should be going to your grandfather's birthday meal," Regina interrupted. She didn't want to be the reason he missed out on spending time with his family, especially on such an important birthday. She wouldn't have it, she was perfectly capable of looking after herself.

"Not a chance am I leaving you here alone," he shook his head.

"Let me know later," Caroline quipped before backing out of the room and closing the door behind her, clearly, she could sense that there might be an argument brewing.

"Robin, your grandfather is ninety years old today and you are going to celebrate his birthday with your family."

"You know I won't be going so I don't know why you're even bothering," he scoffed.

"I will not be the reason you miss this. I'm fine here on my own, I have TV and I'm assuming you will bring me some kind of food, really I don't need anything else."

"Regina…"

"Please," she breathed, "please, just do this for me. Listen," she reached out, taking his hands in hers, "you have been so amazing to me and I know I don't deserve half of the kindness you and your family have awarded me. I would hate myself if I knew that you couldn't go to this special event because of me."

"We've already been to his party though, it's not as though we haven't celebrated… stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop giving me that look."

"What look?"

"The look that makes me feel guilty for wanting to stay here and make sure you're okay. What if something happens whilst I'm gone and you're on your own. Just like you would hate yourself if I missed this meal, I already hate myself knowing that you got hurt because I was a stupid asshole who couldn't find you soon enough."

"I don't want to fight about this Robin," she murmured, she really didn't, but she would. She really would, there wasn't a chance he was missing this event, she knew that she would be okay on her own, she could spare his presence for a couple of hours. "Listen, I'm fine, these wounds will heal and I'll be back to kicking your ass again soon enough. Stop fucking feeling bad for something that wasn't your fault, it was my fault for walking too far and straying from the path. Please go."

One of his hands moved to brush her cheek, gently stroking the pad of his thumb over the bruise that had formed on the apple of her cheek. Regina leant into his touch, relishing in the feel of his hand against her face, her eyes closing at the feeling. She was sure he was going to give in, that she'd been successful in trying to talk him around to the idea, but then he said something that had her eyes flashing open, "no."

"Robin Locksley, I swear!" she growled, "you will go!"

"No, I won't."

"Right, if you won't go because you're worried about leaving me here, I guess I'll have to get up and go with you."

"Not a chance you will!"

"Are you telling me what to do?"

"Regina! You're injured and drugged up! You've been in the hospital overnight; you aren't fit to go to a restaurant for a meal."

"I think I have to."

"Stop it."

"You stop it!" she snapped, why was it that she was awake all of a sudden? Also it wasn't only anger and frustration she was feeling towards him, arguing with him always stirred something up inside her, something it probably shouldn't, but she couldn't help it, seeing him like this had her all riled up. "We're going."

"We are not going!"

"You're going then."

"No I'm…"

"Going."

"I'm not going!"

"You're going."

"Not…"

"Going."

"I'm not…"

"You're going."

"Regina!"

"You're going."

She wasn't going to stop until she got the answer she wanted, this wasn't something she was going to let lie. He had to go, she knew that once he was there everything would be fine and she would probably just be doing much of the same, watching tv and dozing off.

"God you're just so fucking stubborn."

"I know," she smirked, only to be completely taken aback when his lips were pressed against hers, his hands cupping each side of her face. She melted into it, kissing him back, her fingers curling around his shirt and her eyes fluttering closed. She whimpered against his mouth and he pulled back, breaking the kiss and moving back to his side of the bed.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head, she'd just moved a little too quickly, that and she had been completely stunned that he had even done that. He'd just kissed her! One minute they had been arguing and the next he'd given her the best kiss of her life. "Um."

"Sorry, I just… sorry."

"It's okay," she whispered, running her fingers over her sensitive lips, they were still wet from his own. God, she wanted him to do it again but she was too scared to ask him. She was a coward, always scared to make the first move, scared to be physical even when she wanted to be more than anything. Mal had been her first and her only sexual partner so she was in uncharted territory. She swallowed heavily, moving her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. She said the only thing that she could think to in the moment. "You're still going."


	13. Everything

**Happy Easter! Hope you enjoy this! **

* * *

"Seriously, I kiss you and all you can say is that I'm still going?"

"Hmm," she nodded a sly smirk coming onto her face as she relaxed back into the pillows of the bed. Her lips were still tingling from where his had been pressed against them. "Maybe if you go, you'll get another," Regina quipped, reaching out for the covers and pulling them further up, she knew she was being brazen, but she didn't know how else to deal with it. She was rarely kissed by anyone, had only ever kissed a handful of people before.

"God, what the hell am I supposed to do with you?"

"Go."

"If I do go…"

"Which you will."

"IF, I go, how do I know you'll be okay?"

"I have my phone, I can call you if I need you, but I won't Robin, I'll be fine, I promise."

"I just really don't want anything to happen whilst I'm gone," his hand moved to the area of skin just below her bruised cheek, "I don't like the idea of you being here on your own without anyone to help you."

"I'm a grown-ass woman Robin, I think I can manage."

"Fine," he sighed, "God, you're so stubborn."

"You love it don't lie."

Robin chuckled softly, dropping his hand from her face as he glanced over at the clock, "I guess I better go shower and get ready then."

"Thank you, for listening to me."

"I was scared not to."

She watched him stand from the bed and grab all of the things he needed to take to the bathroom for a shower, for the first time she found herself imagining him under the water all dripping wet and couldn't help the shudder that ran through her. Her eyes fell to his ass as he bent over to retrieve his wash bag, the jeans he was wearing were tight and hugged his butt perfectly. "I think you just wanted another kiss, that's why you agreed."

"Maybe you're right about that."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes widening, she didn't know why she was surprised by his answer, he had been the one to kiss her first, but it was still shocking to hear him admit it out loud, for him to tell her that he wanted to kiss her again.

"You're a good kisser, it was a good kiss."

She felt her cheeks pinkening at the compliment, he was right, it was a good kiss, she had enjoyed it and wouldn't complain if it were to happen again, seemingly he agreed with her. She wasn't the only one who wanted a repeat of the earlier event, she ran her tongue over her lips. "You weren't too bad yourself."

He shook his head before moving to the door with his things in his arms, "I'll be holding you to your promise later," he quipped, offering her a cheeky grin before leaving the room, heading for the shower.

She lay there for a moment; she could hear the water being turned on in the bathroom across the hall and knew that in that exact moment he was probably getting undressed ready for his shower. She squirmed a little at the thought, knowing that he was naked a few meters away, only blocked by the wall of his room and the bathroom. She wondered what he looked like under his clothes, after all, he had seen her naked three times now, it must be her turn to get a peek at what he was hiding under those layers.

Regina closed her eyes and imagined the water that must be running down his body, cascading over his skin and running across his sculpted chest. Dripping down, past his stomach and…

Her thoughts were cut off by her phone vibrating on the nightstand, she glanced over and saw that it was Mal trying to facetime. Her eyes widened a little at the thought of her friend/ex seeing her like this, she looked a mess right now and Mal would only worry. Hesitantly she answered, making sure that the camera was angled up towards the ceiling and not on her face. "Hey, Mal."

"Regina, is your camera broken?" the woman laughed.

"No," Regina murmured, she could see that Mal was sitting in the window seat at her apartment in New York, her glasses were perched on the end of her nose and her blonde hair cascaded around her in beautiful curls. She looked gorgeous as always and Regina felt a little self-conscious in comparison, she hadn't felt that way with Mal before so it was a weird feeling. Her face was covered in cuts and bruises and her hair was messy and unkempt.

"Let me see your face then."

"I wasn't expecting your call that's all."

"Darling come on, do you really think I care if you haven't got makeup on?"

Regina sighed and shook her head before remembering that her friend couldn't see her, "okay, but I'm warning you that you might get a shock."

"Why? Did you have bad plastic surgery or something?"

"Not exactly," Regina breathed as she picked up her phone and looked into the front camera seeing her friend's eyes go from jovial to serious in a matter of second.

"Fuck, Regina."

"I did warn you."

"Are you okay? What the hell happened to you?"

"Not exactly and it's a long story," she shrugged, she felt as though she'd recounted the story so many times she didn't know if she could do it again. "I took a fall that's all, there's more to it but I just… I can't get into it right now."

"Took a fall?"

"Yes."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"It looks as though someone hit you in the face with a bag of bricks."

"Wow, beautiful analogy," Regina chuckled, "it isn't actually just my face either." She flipped the camera and showed the other woman the rest of her wounds, from the ones on her stomach and sides to the cast on her leg, watching blue eyes widen as she took in all of Regina's injuries.

"Jesus, you really have been through it."

"Hmm, what was it you were calling for?"

"Oh, I just wanted to check-in and see how you were, unfortunately, it seems you aren't one hundred percent."

"Not at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get back there."

"Whose looking after you? Do I need to fly out there and play nurse because you know I will? I've been wanting an excuse to come and see you."

"Actually, there's something important I need to talk to you about," she stated, her eyes flicking to the door to make sure it was closed, she could hear the water running in the bathroom so knew that Robin must still be showering. "I don't even really know how to bring it up if I'm honest," she looked down at her hands, twiddling her fingers awkwardly. She knew that she needed to talk about this with someone and if she couldn't with Mal, who could she?

"Just say it."

"I kinda found someone."

"Woah really?"

"Yes."

"Shit Regina! You finally got over me then."

"Haha, very funny," Regina rolled her eyes, trust Mal to make it about her.

"Come on then, tell me more."

"Well, I've known him for a few years actually but lately…"

"Him?"

"Yes, him," Regina nodded. She hadn't exactly discussed her sexuality with anyone, not even Mal, though she was pretty sure that Robin knew by now, after all, she had told him about Mal and then there had been their kiss. She could tell that Mal was surprised, maybe even more surprised than she had been at seeing her face all beat up.

"Well, I didn't know that you were into guys, I thought…"

"I like men and I like women; I like who I like I guess."

"I get it, you're a personality kinda girl, I should have known really. I bet your mother is delighted that you decided to hook up with a guy, did she give you the whole, I'm glad my daughter isn't a lesbian anymore jibe?"

"How did you guess?" Regina chuckled, shuffling up the bed and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I think her exact words were, I'm so glad you're over that silly phase Regina," she mocked, doing her best impression of her stuck-up mother.

"Urgh God! She called it a phase?"

"Oh yes."

"So then, this guy, what's he like? Please tell me he's at least a little bit handsome, I know you're about personality but…"

"He's…" she couldn't think of the best way to describe Robin, he was gorgeous, sexy and charismatic. He was a beautiful person inside and out and she had fallen from him without a doubt. "Robin is…"

"Did I just hear my name?"

She whipped her head around to the door, straining her neck in the process, he was stood there with just a towel wrapped around his hips, showing off his chest and making Regina let go of the phone in her hand as she simply stared at him. She was lost for words, her eyes trailing down his body which still had drops of water dripping down from his hair.

"Regina?"

"Were you on the phone?" Robin asked, glancing down at her mobile with Mal looking back at him. "Hi."

"You must be Robin."

"Yep."

"Mal," she smiled flirtily.

Regina rolled her eyes and gently shoved Robin away before scrambling for the phone, "Mal, I'll talk to you later okay."

"Fine, but FYI I think the words you were looking for to describe him were sex on legs."

"Bye Mal!" Regina smiled bitterly as she cut her friend off and tossed her phone onto the nightstand. "You're out of the shower then," she stated, her smile turning more genuine as she looked towards her fiancé, it was the first time she had referred to him that way in her head or to herself for that matter and it was a little weird for her.

"Yeah. So, that was Mal?"

"Hmm, yep."

"She's pretty."

"She is," Regina nodded, rubbing her hand over her neck and the strained muscles there, "but she's my ex for a reason, Robin. We're just friends now," she felt as though that needed saying, even if it was just her way of reassuring him that there wasn't anything between them anymore. She was still too nervous to admit to him how she actually felt, she didn't know if she was ready to tell him the full extent of her feelings.

"Right yeah, I'm fine with that Regina, you don't have to explain."

"I feel as though I should though, I just wanted you to know that I'm not in love with her anymore."

"Okay," he chuckled, walking over to the wardrobe and sifting through his shirts.

"Do you know what you're wearing tonight?" she asked, wanting to change the subject. She was also quite distracted by the view as his towel slipped a little revealing quite a bit of bare skin that was driving her a little crazy.

"It's between these two," he quipped, holding up a pale blue shirt in one hand and a checked one in the other.

"Wear the pale blue one with your grey jacket, you look handsome in that," Regina stated. She wanted to see him wearing it and knew that the blue would bring out the sparkle in his eyes. She felt incredibly cosy and the tiredness she had been feeling before his mother had paid them a visit was back again. Yawning she closed her eyes as she snuggled against the cushion, "please will you wake me before you go out?"

"Will do and I'll make sure to bring you some dinner before we leave," he quipped, moving over to her and pressing a light kiss to her temple just as she drifted off to sleep, finally getting that much-needed rest.

* * *

"Regina."

She hummed, hearing her name being called, the smell of food also drifted through the air. There were fingers running through her hair, softly brushing against her scalp, slowly waking her from the heavenly sleep she had been in. "Are you going now?" she asked sleepily, turning her head to look at him. He was sat perched on the side of the bed all dressed up in his suit. "You look really good."

"Thanks," Robin chuckled, "yeah, we're going in a minute. You sure you're going to be okay; I can still stay."

"Robin, don't make me repeat myself," she groaned before offering him a playful smile and turning to look at the plate of food on the bedside table. "You got me fish and chips?"

"Yeah, you needed to experience the best fish and chips in the whole country whilst you were up here. Do you need anything before we head off?"

"I think I'm fine, thank you."

"Right, you have your phone, food, drinks. Please call me if you need to."

"Will do," she smiled, reaching for his hand and giving it a little squeeze, "have fun tonight and don't worry about me, let your hair down. Say happy birthday to your grandfather for me."

"Okay," he nodded, standing from the bed and brushing his hands over his pants to straighten the invisible creases in his pants.

"Just think, when you get back, you'll have a reward waiting for you," Regina grinned, reaching for the plate of fish and chips and pouring some of the curry sauce on the side before dunking a chip.

"Well, that gives me something to look forward to then. There's a friend who wants to come in and keep you company, but I didn't want her just leaping up on you. I'm sure she'll come find you once she's finished her own tea."

"She makes for a great Tv watching buddy," Regina nodded, she was looking forward to some lounge time with the dog and no one to bother her for a while.

"Good, well, I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Yep," she smiled, grabbing the Tv remote and turning it on. She could see him hesitating in the doorway and to combat it she simply turned the volume up, offering him a mischievous smirk, "get your ass out of here."

"I'm going alright."

"Hmm."

* * *

Robin was right, Meg had come up to the bedroom just as Regina had her fill of the fish and chips, some leftovers still on the side table. The dog had leapt up immediately and snuggled into Regina's side, falling asleep almost immediately with her head resting on her chest.

A couple of hours had passed since Robin left for the meal with his family, the house was empty and Regina was beginning to get bored. She'd called Mal back then watched a whole film and re-runs of Friends were playing on channel 5 so was simply laid watching those. The boredom wasn't the main problem though, she had been crossing her legs for the past thirty minutes, putting off the inevitable.

She needed the bathroom, but she was scared of getting there on her own, she'd already nearly collapsed earlier that morning when pushing herself too far. She was really desperate now though and knew she was going to have to try and get there, she wasn't sure when Robin would be back. He'd been messaging her quite a bit since he was gone, but she'd had no indication as to when he'd be home.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted the covers and slipped her legs over the edge of the bed, feeling the strain through her body just to do that. Reaching out she grabbed a crutch, hearing Meg whimper a little in protest as if to tell her off for trying to move when she shouldn't be. Before she stood up, she slipped her phone into her pocket and inhaled shakily before pushing up on the crutch and forcing herself off the bed, crying out as she did, pain rushing all over.

She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath, she could do it, she just needed to push through the pain, block it out. Biting down on her bottom lip she grabbed her other crutch, holding onto them tight she forced herself forward, slowly shuffling towards the bathroom, barely lifting her feet off the ground as she went.

It took her a while, but she finally reached the bathroom. The problem was now she had been she had to get back again, sure she wasn't desperate for the toilet any more but the idea of having to go the whole way back to get into bed was daunting, especially when she didn't have that immanent need to get there.

She must have just sat there for ten minutes, willing herself to have the energy to lift herself up and drag herself back. She wished Robin was there, she wished he could help her. She contemplated calling him, but that would only make her look weak. Gathering her bearings, she pushed herself up and towards the sink, resting on her elbows as she washed her hands. Unbeknownst to Regina, a little water splashed over the side, landing on the tiled floor, she was too focused on pushing her mind through the pain to pay attention.

Once she had finished, she glanced out of the bathroom door and into the bedroom, seeing Meg watching her from the edge of the bed. "Don't worry girl, I'm coming," she breathed. Reaching for her crutches and dragging herself towards the door, she was almost out of the room when her bare foot landed on the wet floor and before she could even register what was happening her body collapsed from under her, sending her to the ground banging the opposite side of her face to the one that was already bruised and cut.

"Shit!" she hissed, feeling tears welling up because of the severe pain she felt. If she thought it was bad before this was agony, her ribs were throbbing in a way that had her almost losing the contents of her stomach, zipping through her in an agonising tidal wave of pain. Regina couldn't help crying because of it, the dog had shot off the bed and was beside her in an instant, whimpering softly as she nuzzled her gently.

She didn't think she could get up; her crutches had slipped across the floor out of reach and she physically couldn't make herself move. Shakily she reached down for the phone she luckily had the foresight to put in her pocket. It couldn't be Robin she called, he'd freak out, he couldn't know what had happened he'd never forgive himself for leaving her alone. Scrolling down her contacts she landed on the one that she knew she could come and help.

Reluctantly she pressed dial and waited for them to answer, "don't let anyone know it's me who is calling," Regina stated as soon as the call was answered, her voice wobblily as she tried to fight the tears in order to talk.

"Hey, Ruby, you okay?" the woman asked, clearly covering up the fact that it was Regina on the other side of the phone.

"I need your help," she whispered, her bottom lip wobbling as she spoke.

"What happened?"

She could hear the worry in her voice at the question, she had clearly panicked her, "I needed the bathroom and… I slipped, I can't get up. I…"

"I'm on my way, don't worry, I'll be there in five minutes!"

"Please, don't let Robin know, he'll panic, you know it."

"I know, I'm coming."

Five minutes later she heard the front door open, "Regina!" a voice shouted and she closed her eyes in relief, it was cold in the bathroom and the stone floor didn't help. There were footsteps hurrying up the stairs as the blonde came into view, "oh god, Regina!" Emma breathed, reaching down to help her up, her arms wrapping around her, "shit."

She managed to help her off the ground and they slowly manoeuvred into the bedroom. The moment Regina landed on the bed she closed her eyes looking up at the ceiling, her throat was tight as she tried to taper down her emotions. "We aren't going to be able to hide this from Robin."

"What are you talking about?" Regina asked, staring up at the blonde in shock. "Emma! You said that he couldn't find out, we agreed that…"

"I know, but it's going to be hard to hide now that both sides of your face are matching isn't it."

Regina groaned, resting her head back against the headrest, she thought that her face had been hurting. Shit, this wasn't good. Robin was going to be furious probably more at himself than at her, though she knew he would be mad that she hadn't called him when she needed him. "You're going to have to try and cover it."

"What?"

"Makeup, help me cover it with makeup," Regina reasoned, seeing the humorous look that sprouted on the other woman's face.

"You're joking, very funny."

"Emma, I'm not joking, put a bit of concealer and foundation over it."

"Regina, no. We just need to break it to him gently."

Regina sighed, her face was throbbing from where it had hit the ground and she was suffering from a feeling of self-loathing. She regretted not calling them for help before she even got out of bed, she just hadn't wanted to bother them whilst they were at their nice meal. "How bad do you think it is?" she asked, feeling very sorry for herself.

"You've certainly done some damage. At the minute it looks really red but I'm pretty sure it's going to bruise," Emma stated, looking closer at her cheek. "Is that the only place you hurt?"

"Well, I caught my knees too but I think they'll be fine."

"We don't have long before they'll be back, they were just finishing up with dessert when I left."

"Maybe I should just pretend to be asleep, lay on that side."

"Regina."

"Have you met your brother?"

"Yes, I get it, he's a control freak," Emma chuckled, "we're just going to have to deal with it."

"He's not going to leave me alone, again is he?" Regina sighed with a little laugh at the end as she looked down at the duvet. "I think I need to take some more of my pain meds."

"On it," the blonde smiled, taking the empty glass from the nightstand and leaving the room to refill it with water, she appeared a moment later and passed it back to her, "there we go."

"Thanks." Regina had just taken the pills when she heard the front door open and closed her eyes, knowing that the inevitable was about to happen. "Are you sure you can't quickly put some makeup on me before he gets up here?"

"Positive, better leave you to it. Good luck."

Emma left the room, passing Robin on her way out, the smile that had been on his face dropped as he watched his sister walk out. "What was she doing in here?" he asked with a confused look on his face, one that was quickly replaced when he looked at her. "Regina!"

"What?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders as he placed whatever he had been holding down on the bottom of the bed and took her face in his hands.

"You know what! What happened to your cheek?"

"I fell down a ravine…"

"The other cheek, this wasn't here when I left," he stated, tentatively running his thumb over the fresh mark adorning her face.

"It was."

"No, it wasn't."

"I'd covered it with makeup."

"Don't lie to me, this is clearly new, what happened?" he asked, a multitude of emotions washing over his face as he looked at her. "Regina."

"I fell okay, is that what you wanted to hear?!" she snapped, pushing his hands away and folding her arms over her chest as she offered him a glare. Why couldn't he just leave it be? "I went to the bathroom and slipped. But I'm fine."

"Your face is telling me otherwise. Is that why Emma was here? Did you ring her? Why didn't you call me? You should have phoned me and asked me to come home and help you."

"I didn't want to bother you."

"You promised me, Regina," he huffed, standing from the bed and scowling at her, his expression matching hers as they both started to get worked up and angry. "You told me you would call me! You promised you would! Then you call my sister when you're hurt and not me."

"It wasn't anything! I wanted you to have fun, I didn't want to pull you away from your family time!"

"Your face is bruised! This is why I shouldn't have gone!"

"You can't just baby me, Robin, I'm a grown woman!"

"Yeah, you've said that more than once today, but look what happened. I knew something like this was going to happen, I told you I didn't want to go and you forced me to. I wanted to stay with you and make sure that you were safe but you forced me to go to the meal and leave you on your own!"

"Did you have a good time?"

"That isn't the point I'm making here. I should have been here with you, you're my fiancé, I should have stayed and taken care of you."

"Fuck off, you don't have to pretend to care about me, no ones around to see it, Robin. Your family aren't going to call you out, you don't have to fake it around me. Why would you care anyway?"

"Don't give me that crap, you know I care about you, I fucking care about you so much, god why do you do this to me, how do you manage to do this all the time? You get me so mad and all I want to do is kiss you!"

"Do it then!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because! You drive me insane! It literally tears my heart out to see you hurt and you can't even take care of yourself properly because of your damn pride. You can't even let me help you when you need it." He sighed, sitting down at the bottom of the bed, his anger deflating as he rested his head in his hands. "Why couldn't you have just let me stay and look after you? This could have been avoided. You're pushing me away and it's killing me."

She stared at him from where she was sat, watching his back rise and fall with his breath, she could feel a lump in her throat, she had known that he'd be angry, but she hadn't expected them to be shouting at each other for the whole house to hear. He just had a way of doing that to her, he wasn't the only one going crazy. It seemed that the trapped-up feelings were making them both insane.

Her anger had also dissipated and she found herself awkwardly moving down the bed to wrap her arms around him, her face resting against his upper back as she clung to him in a way comparable to a baby monkey, her broken leg awkwardly hanging off to the side. It hurt her to hold him like this but she didn't care, she needed to be close to him, needed to feel him pressed against her.

"Please Robin, don't be upset with me. I just…" a tear rolled down her cheek, absorbing into his shirt as she felt herself start to fall apart. "I just wanted you to have fun with your family, I… I'm sorry, please. I didn't mean to hurt you, or make you feel this way," she sniffled, closing her eyes as she cried against his back. This was the most vulnerable she had ever been with him, she could feel all the words on the tip of her tongue, every single feeling he'd made her feel bubbling to the surface. "I love you, the last thing I want is to upset you," she whispered under her breath.

"What did you say?" he asked, his hands taking hold of hers as he turned to look at her.

"I… I said I…" she stared at him, she hadn't thought he'd hear her, but maybe he had, he'd heard something. He reached out, wiping her tears from her cheeks.

"Don't cry," Robin whispered, moving a little closer, his forehead pressing against hers. "You don't have to say it again."

"Did you hear it?" Regina questioned.

"I think so."

"And?"

"Ditto."

She took a deep breath, the way he was looking at her almost took the pain from her injuries away and they simply both just sat there staring at each other for a moment or two. "Really?"

"Hmm," he nodded.

"Right," she murmured, "I think I owe you something from earlier, do I not?"

"I think you might."

"Wanna check that in now?" Regina whispered, her lips already almost brushing his they were that close.

"I'd like that."

"Me too."

No more words were necessary as he pressed his lips to hers, his hand slipping to the back of her neck as her fingers curled around his shirt. She melted against him, a smile breaking out on her face, causing her to pull back a little to look at him, "I suppose another couldn't hurt," she chuckled, kissing him again relaxing into it and enjoying the feel of his mouth on hers.

"God, I have wanted to do this for so long."

"Me too," she whispered, her hand moving to his cheek, making her wince in the process, "I can't wait till I'm healed and hopefully able to do something else I've wanted to for a while." She saw his eyes widen and laughed, "are you going to tell me that you haven't thought about it?"

"You're a wounded woman."

"Robin."

"Fine yeah, I've thought about it."

She linked her fingers with his, pulling him with her as she leant back again, allowing her body to relax a little. "What's in the box?" she asked, gesturing to the paper box he'd brought in with him, it had been ignored in favour of their argument and then impromptu admission of their feelings. Well, partial admission. They hadn't actually said the words properly, not so the other could hear anyway.

He grinned from where he was laid beside her, "ah, well," reaching out he grabbed the box before returning to his spot laid beside her. "Here."

Smiling she rose an eyebrow before opening the box, revealing a massive piece of chocolate cake with a strawberry on the top and a… her eyes rose to his as her mouth fell open, "is that what I… is that what I think it is?"

"I picked it up before I went to the meal, I actually organised it when you were at the shops with my mother and grandmother."

"I don't know what to say," she breathed, watching as he took it out of the box and moved slightly on the bed so that he was on one knee, trying to balance on the mattress, wobbling a little. The ring was composed of a band of tiny sparkly diamonds with a singular larger diamond in the centre, it was the most stunning piece of jewellery she had ever seen, despite having a little chocolate frosting on it.

"I don't know if this is the best way to pop the question but, we're already getting married so…"

"Are you actually doing this?"

"We can't get married without a proposal," Robin chuckled, holding the ring in his hand as he nearly keeled over again but quickly righted himself. "I want to do it properly; I want you to have a ring…"

"But…"

"If you're going to be my wife, you're going to have a ring."

"Is this just because of my visa?" she asked quietly, looking up at him. She was feeling a little overwhelmed, first there had been the confession of feelings and now this, she didn't know how she was meant to react.

"You really do want to ruin the moment don't you, I'm trying to propose here."

"I know, but I… are you just marrying me because I'm forcing you to? Or…"

"No, I'm marrying you because I want to marry you. I want to be married to you. Well, ideally we would have dated a little first but I guess we have to skip a couple of steps," he grinned. "I'd say without knowing for a long time, you've been the person I've been closest to in the world. I don't know how I never noticed it before. Every time I'm around you, you make me crazy…"

"Great…"

"Regina! Shut up."

"Sorry," she smirked, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"You make me crazy; you make me feel so much. I can't believe how god damn stubborn you are, but I think that I must like a challenge, you're always challenging me. It took me so long to actually tell you how I felt, I guess I was reluctant to do so. I know you might not believe me because of the way I reacted when you told me I had to marry you, but I was happy. I felt like I finally had my chance to get to know you in a way that wasn't just as my boss. Now I guess you'll still be my boss, just in a different way."

"I didn't know you were supposed to insult the person you're proposing to, but you're doing a wonderful job of it," Regina chuckled, seeing the look he threw her way before clearing her throat and listening to him again.

"You never shut up do you?"

"You've known me long enough to know that I like to talk."

"You like to be a pain in my ass."

"Always."

"Can I get this proposal finished already?"

"Just slide the ring on already, you know I'm going to say yes, I need that visa."

"Regina!"

"I'm joking!" she giggled, making her ribs hurt, "come on though, get to the question."

"This trip made me realise that the feelings I had for you weren't just a crush, it was more than that. The intensity of the way I feel towards you, I realised fully when I had you in my arms after you fell down that ravine, what I felt wasn't just infatuation, though it was that also. I'm completely in love with you Regina Mills."

Her eyes widened as she stared at him, she should have seen it coming and yet it caught her off guard, hearing those words escape his mouth. "You…"

"Yep."

A nervous smile slowly made its way onto her face as she averted her gaze looking at the pattern on the duvet. He loved her. He'd said those words and she was stunned, a pleasant warmth blossomed inside her as she lifted her eyes again, looking at him again.

"Marry me?"

"I'll think about it," she hummed.

"You'll think about it?" he asked, his eyebrows raising as he stared at her in shock.

She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, "ask me again."

"No."

"Robin, come on, ask me again."

"No, you had your chance, I'll just have to find another woman who needs a visa to propose to."

"Hey, ask me again, please."

"Regina Mills, will you marry me?" he asked.

She nodded her head and held her left hand up to him for him to slide the ring into place, "yes, I will marry you," she hummed. "You're going to have to come down here to kiss me because I can't get back up," she smiled, admiring the sparkling new piece of jewellery on her finger. She knew that her visa was the reason they were rushing into marriage, but it made her so happy to know that that wasn't the only reason they were getting married. He loved her.

Robin chuckled and leant down, brushing his lips over hers, "you do know that I won't be leaving you alone till you're all healed up, right?"

Regina rolled her eyes at him, "talk about that later, right now just shut up and kiss me."


	14. Unravelled

**Hello! Here's the newest chapter, I hope you all enjoy! **

**The song they are listening to is (Wanna Get to Know You) That Good! by Shania Twain. **

**Happy reading and stay safe!**

* * *

When the morning rolled around it was a sharp pain that woke her from her sleep, she gasped and tried to sit up, Robin's arm was around her and she realised that he might have accidentally been holding her a little too tight, applying pressure to her ribs and making them sting. Her movement woke Robin and he lifted his arm a little, blinking his eyes open and looking at her, "hey? You okay?" he asked, his voice groggy with sleep as his hand carefully stroked over her arm.

"Yes, I just had a little pain that's all," she whispered, turning to face him, groaning as she did, every muscle and bone in her body protesting at the movement as she curled into him, her face pressing against his chest.

"I should go get your meds, they'll help."

"They make me exhausted," Regina grumbled. "I don't want to waste another day in this bed."

"Where do you plan on going exactly? You can't even move."

"You can wheel me somewhere."

"Where do you want to be wheeled to your majesty?" he grinned, his fingers running through her hair tenderly, "any specific requests?"

"Very funny. Just anywhere, you decide. Take me somewhere good."

"How about the woollen mill museum? They'll teach you how to make a woven blanket."

She rested her chin on his chest and tilted her head up so that she could look at him properly, her eyes narrowing as she stared at him, "I can't tell if you're being serious or not," she murmured, "do you really think I want to go to a museum about wool?"

"I'll take that as a no then," he chuckled.

"Are you joking? I'd love to go."

"No, you wouldn't."

"I would," she nodded. "Does it have a good gift shop?"

"Now I can't tell if _you're_ joking or not."

"I'm actually not."

"So you, Regina Mills, hater of sightseeing and shopping, want to go to a wool museum but only if it has a gift shop?"

"Hmm."

"You're crazy."

She scoffed and dropped her head back down again, her whole body resting against his as she closed her eyes, "I happen to like a nice accent blanket, do you think they'll sell them in the shop?"

"Shit, you're actually being serious right now aren't you."

"I said I was, didn't I?"

"I know you did but…"

"If you didn't want to go to the wool museum Robin you shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place," she shrugged, yawning as she snuggled closer, not opening her eyes as she basked in his warmth. His fingers in her hair were relaxing and she was nearly falling asleep from how calm she felt. She wasn't actually lying about wanting to go to the museum, she rarely got the chance to geek out, so if he wanted to go, she was more than happy to tag along. Though she wasn't entirely sure how interesting a woollen museum actually was.

"I mean, I wasn't expecting you to want to go. If I had known that you were some museum gift shop loving freak, I'd have suggested that we go to a castle or something."

"A castle?"

"Yeah, you know, the place where Kings and Queens used to live."

"I know what a castle is, but I didn't see any castles around here."

"There are a couple not too far away," he quipped, twisting a strand of her hair around his fingers as they went quiet for a moment. She wondered what he was thinking about, it wasn't an awkward silence as such, but she could tell that there was certainly something on his mind. Her hand rubbed over his ribs in what she hoped would be a comforting gesture, she wasn't very good at being close to people, but she wanted to be close to him.

"What is it?" she whispered, resting her chin on him once again in order to meet his eyes.

He sighed before shaking his head. "Okay, I guess I'll just come out and say it. I know we were supposed to be going back to London tonight, but I wondered with you being injured if maybe you might want to stay a few more days? We don't have to, we can head back tonight like planned if that's what you want but…"

"I don't want that." She knew she should, at the beginning of the week she had been dying for the chance to return home, but that wasn't the case anymore, she didn't want that, she wanted to stay. She'd enjoyed being with Robin and his family. It was strange to even think it but she had changed as a person, grown even. In the little time she had been here in this beautiful old house in the middle of nowhere, her heart had swelled with love in a way she didn't think she had ever felt before. "We can stay a little longer," she grinned, looking up at him.

Robin chuckled as his hands went to her back, being mindful of her ribs, though she had no idea what he was laughing at.

Furrowing her eyebrows she tilted her head a little, "what's so funny?"

"I guess being up here in the Yorkshire Countryside has changed you boss. Who would have thought that you would have chosen to stay here and visit woollen museums rather than return to London?"

"Shush you."

"Just wait till I tell everyone at work just how much of a big softy you are… oww!"

She smirked evilly as she dug her elbow into his side, "oh you're not going to mention that to anyone."

"Is that an order?"

"Yes," she nodded, staring at him for a moment, her fingers moving to brush over his stubble gently, "that is an order. I think I have another to add to the list, and as your boss you simply have to comply."

"What's that?" he asked as the pad of her thumb brushed over his lips and he kissed it gently.

"I want you to kiss me."

"Do you order all of your colleagues to kiss you Miss Mills?" Robin smirked.

"Just the ones I like."

"That could be considered workplace harassment you know; they might have you into HR on a misconduct charge."

"Oh, well you won't be wanting that kiss then," she shrugged, moving from on top of him to lay back on her own side, her head dropping down on her pillow.

He was quick to follow her, rolling on top of her, making sure to keep himself raised so that he wasn't pressing against her injuries. "Fuck HR," he grinned, leaning in closer, his nose brushing against hers, only for her to place her fingers between their lips.

"Better not."

"Regina…"

"I could lose my job, simply for fraternising with my inferior. It's not worth it," she quipped with a small shrug of her shoulders. She knew that wouldn't happen, they had already disclosed their relationship to the person above her in the company, they'd had to do it when she first forced him to become her fiancé, though that part was left out for obvious reasons.

"What if I made it worth it?"

"How do you suggest you might do that?"

"I can seduce you quite easily," he smirked, moving his mouth to her neck and coaxing a gasp from her lips. "I'm sure if I wanted to, I could cause you to make all sorts of little moans."

"Only moans?" she breathed, closing her eyes as she allowed him to continue his exploration, his fingers pushing the fabric of his shirt down over her shoulder allowing him access to more skin to brush his lips over. "I'd think you'd want to be more satisfying than that."

"Are you saying you're loud in bed?" he groaned, stopping his ministrations to meet her eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to find out."

"Definitely."

She looked up at him, her tongue poking out to wet her lips, she really needed to tell him. It was something he needed to know right? An important factor that was kind of necessary to share. "Robin, there's actually something I need to talk to you about," she stated. He sensed the change in mood and moved from on top of her, dropping back beside her once again.

"You've gone all serious."

"Yes well, this is important, I guess. I don't know, it's important to me anyway."

"Okay, well whatever it is you can tell me, you can talk to me about it," he reassured. Seemingly he always needed to be in contact with her, this morning he had been touchy-feely, so had she though and she wasn't complaining about his large palm pressed against her stomach as his fingers stroked tenderly over her skin.

Here goes nothing. "Well, you know I told you that my first time was with Mal in boarding school."

"Yeah."

"Well… I actually haven't…"

"Knock, knock," there was a tap at the door, accompanied by Robin's mother's voice alerting them to her presence before she pushed it open, smiling at the couple as she carried a tray of breakfast in for them. "Good morning, how did you both sleep?" she asked, placing the tray on the bedside table next to Regina before perching on the side of bed. "How are you feeling darling? Emma told me about your little accident last night, I do hope you didn't damage yourself even more."

"Oh, I'm just aching thank you Mrs Locksley," she smiled, awkwardly looking to Robin and back to his mother.

"It's Caroline and I think you're being modest dear; do we need to call the doctor again?"

"No mum, she's okay," Robin stated, "thanks for breakfast."

The blonde nodded, standing from the bed and clearing her throat, "well, I suppose I'll leave the two of you to it then." With that she was gone again, Robin had been quite dismissive with his comment and clearly, she had received the message. As soon as the door was closed behind the older woman Robin turned to look at her.

"What were you saying before? Go on."

"Um, I was… I was just going to say that it's been a while since I've been with anyone that's all. Sexually I mean or in any way I suppose," she quipped, chickening out with what she was actually going to tell him. Before they'd been interrupted, she was going to tell him that she hadn't been with a guy before, the timing was now off and the mood different, she couldn't bring herself to get the words out.

"Ah, I see. Me too to be honest, don't worry, we'll go at whatever pace you want," he smiled, cupping her jaw gently and leaning in to press his lips against hers, he hummed against her mouth before pulling away and looking down at her, shaking his head softly, "have I told you how fucking gorgeous you are?"

Regina released a shuddery breath as ran her tongue over her bottom lip, "I don't think those exact words have ever left your lips no," she whispered.

"Shame, because you are."

She chuckled nervously before slowly sitting up and moving to lower her legs over the side of the bed, "I'm not so sure I look anything close to gorgeous at the moment."

"You always look beautiful," he stated confidently.

Regina closed her eyes, feeling his fingers trail lightly over her back, following the curve of her spine moving up and down. It was nice to feel so cared for, his words were genuine, she knew as much and it was so good to hear them, it had been a long time since anyone had complimented her. So long since she'd had anyone try to be close to her, felt someone else's hands on her, touching her. "Would you be able to help me dress please?" she asked, her voice low as she turned her head to look at him.

"Of course," Robin nodded, his lips pressing gently to her shoulder before he stood from the bed and moved over to her case which still laid unpacked in the corner of the room.

* * *

An hour later they were in the car, which Emma had kindly let them borrow, heading towards the wool museum. Robin had assured her that they would only be spending an hour or so there, apparently they did demonstrations and things like that. She was also rather excited at the prospect of getting a new blanket to snuggle under.

Robin had insisted on bringing the wheelchair, just in case she got tired, but she had brought her crutches as well. She didn't want to be pushed around when she was perfectly capable of walking herself, as long as there was somewhere to sit every now and then she was sure that she would be fine.

She glanced over at Robin for a moment a smile forming on her face as she watched the concentration on his whilst he drove. She'd never been in a car with him driving before, they had no need for their own vehicles in London, normally just relying on public transport to get them places. She was no stranger to using the underground as much as she disliked it, there was no denying its convenience. He was a good driver, sensible. Then again, he was sensible with everything he did, she liked sensible.

She reached out, changing the radio station, "hey, I was listening to that."

"You were listening to your sister's Shania Twain CD?" Regina giggled, shuffling in her seat to get more comfortable.

"Um yes, put it back on."

"Seriously?"

"You can't turn Shania Twain off," he scoffed.

"Fine," she shrugged, turning it back, "I didn't know you were into country and western."

"I indulge every now and then," he grinned, his eyes not leaving the road.

She smiled to herself, her gaze turning to the window as she watched the sea of green whiz by, she had forgotten just how much she missed the countryside and, in a way, it reminded her of hometown back in Maine. The soothing tones of the music filled the car and the song changed; she found her bottom lip pulling between her teeth. "I like this one," she hummed, leaning forward to turn up the volume a little.

"Me too."

The words were resonating with her and she couldn't help feel that she wanted to be that way with Robin, she wanted to know him so well that they were inseparable, she wanted to know everything about him, she was sure that there was so much left to find out. Just looking at him made her want to reach out and run her fingers through his hair, but she daren't make a move, she didn't want to startle him or distract him from driving, so she kept her hands to herself, watching as he mouthed the words along with the song. "Can you sing?"

"Can I sing?"

"Yes, can you?"

"Can't everyone?" he chuckled, taking a right at a junction.

"I mean well, can you sing well? Is it another mystery talent of yours? Are you secretly a singing pianist?"

"Are you?"

"I don't sing," Regina scoffed. It was one of the things she always wished she could do, but unfortunately, she wasn't blessed with golden pipes. Even just her singing in the shower was probably enough to make people wince at how bad she was at singing.

"I bet you can."

"No, I really can't. I'm tone-deaf when it comes to singing," she husked, "anyway, my question was for you, not myself. Can you sing well?"

"I suppose I can hold a note," he grinned, not taking his eyes off the road. She admired how vigilant he was when driving, how safe he made her feel, especially when they were navigating the small country roads that she would never have the nerve to drive on, not to mention the hills, it seemed there were nothing but hills, a constant of peaks and valleys.

"Come on then, I want to hear you?"

"Right now? I don't think so."

"Don't tell me that you don't know the words because I've been watching you mouth them this entire time. Come on, humour me. I want to hear your voice."

"I don't think so, you're not getting me to sing along to Shania Twain in the car."

"Why not? You wouldn't even do it to make your injured fiancé smile?" she pouted.

"No."

"I could offer you a reward, a kiss for a song."

"You need to stop offering rewards like that," Robin sniggered, stopping the car at a set of traffic lights as they moved onto one of the main roads. He turned to look at her, his eyes mischievous as they fell to her lips, she could tell that he wanted to kiss her, she was enjoying this game they were playing, enjoying being able to openly flirt with him without feeling awkward about it.

"Or what?"

"Stop it."

"Come on, why? Is it distracting you?" she breathed, making sure that the traffic lights were still on red as her hand slipped across the console before landing on his upper thigh, "am I distracting you?"

"You know you are," he gasped, his eyes widening as one hand moved to cover hers, stopping it in its tracks before it went any higher. "Regina…"

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything," Regina shrugged, her fingers flexing below his own as she gave his thigh a playful squeeze. She was lying and he knew it, she was trying to get him all worked up, she didn't know what had gotten into her, but she couldn't stop herself from taunting him, it was too tempting of an opportunity to miss. "Just stretching my arm out, the muscles are aching from my injuries that's all, I need to exercise it."

"Seriously, you're…" A car horn forced his eyes away from hers as he looked up at the lights which Regina noticed were now on green. She slowly slipped her hand away and returned it to her side of the car.

"You better go before he decides to drive into the back of you," she giggled, the person in the car behind them was clearly getting increasingly annoyed that Robin wasn't going anywhere when the lights had changed.

"You're going to be the death of me," Robin huffed, putting his foot down and continuing on the way to the museum.

Regina decided that she would play fair for the rest of the journey and allow him to concentrate on the road, she was quite content knowing that she could affect him the way she had done. It made her smile to know that she could push his buttons in that way.

* * *

A little while later Robin pulled into the carpark of the museum, Regina looked at the building out of the window, it was clearly an old mill, which she had known already, but she hadn't quite been expecting what was in front of her. It was a stone building with red bricks surrounding the windows. She was ridiculously excited to look around, a lot of people in her life had thought that she was strange liking museums as much as she did, but they had always fascinated her. When she wasn't working, she loved to visit the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and the V&A, she could spend forever wandering around places like that.

Robin was going to have to help her out of the car, but she refused to sit in that damn wheelchair that he had insisted they bring along with them. There wasn't a chance she was actually going to sit in it, she was already going to be stared at because of the mess she made of her face. That morning Caroline had to help her with her makeup as they had attempted to cover the bruises that adorned her cheeks, the one she had acquired from her fall the night before hadn't darkened as much as she thought it might so it covered easily, the older bruise from the ravine hadn't been so easy.

The bruise was still quite visible underneath the makeup and there was no chance of her covering the gash on her forehead. Robin's mother had leant her a shirt to wear, her own clothes were too tight against her wounds, she'd tried a couple on before Robin had gone to borrow one with the help of his mother. It wasn't something she would usually wear but it was comfortable, consisting of a deep blue and red plaid shirt, she'd had to stick with the sweat pants on the bottom half because of the cast, but Emma had dropped her off a pair that fit her better than Robin's.

"Right then, we're here."

"I see that," she grinned, "are you going to help me out or are we just going to sit in the carpark?"

"Shush you," Robin scoffed before getting out and moving around to her side, opening the door for her and helping her so that she had swung her legs out of the car. Her perfectly painted toes were sticking out of the bottom of her cast and she was a little concerned about them touching the floor. "Can you get the crutches please?"

"Not using the chair?"

"No. I already told you that I wouldn't be using that thing," she scoffed, reaching to grab her purse from the footwell, "and don't argue with me about it please."

"Fine, but if you need it whilst we're in there I am coming out to get it, okay?"

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. She wouldn't be using it.

Robin begrudgingly handed her the crutches and she awkwardly pushed herself up on them, already feeling the strain from the pressure she was applying to keep herself upright. Robin wouldn't be finding out about that though, if he knew that she struggled with the crutches he would insist upon the wheelchair.

He had tried to park as close to the entrance as possible and luckily there was a little ramp up to the front door, slowly they walked up to the building, Robin's hand was pressed to her lower back as he supported her, clearly not wanting her to stumble or fall. "Are you okay? Can you manage?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you…"

"Robin," she rose an eyebrow as she looked at him, he nodded at her and they continued inside. She liked that he cared for her and that he was worried about her, but she didn't need to be babied, she knew what she could and couldn't manage, she just hoped that they had some seating inside because she wouldn't be able to stand up for prolonged periods of time.

Robin moved up to the front desk where one of the staff greeted them, the woman behind the desk looked at Regina and immediately stood from her seat. "Hi, do you need a folding stool? We have a couple in the backroom," she smiled kindly. Robin nodded and thanked her, she quickly moved to grab a stool for them and Regina was happy that she at least wouldn't have to stand the entire way around the exhibit.

Regina looked around her as they waited for the woman to return, there were several exhibits just in the entrance, covered by glass boxes. They were different pieces of mill equipment that, if she had to guess, probably dated back to the Victorian era, she had seen similar artefacts in the V&A. She limped over to the first display, peering inside and seeing a shuttle dating back to the early 1800s, she read the little information card which told her that the item was thrown back and forth, sending horizontal fibres flying across the machine and threading them together with vertical ones that were already strung up.

"Seen something interesting?"

"Hmm," she nodded smiling up at Robin as he approached her with the fold-out stool in his hands, she could tell that it was probably quite light, made from a metal frame with a strip of fabric attached for her to sit upon, similar to the chairs you would see in galleries. "It's actually really informative."

"Who knew my future wife was a history buff?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," she winked, only for him to laugh at her, "what?"

"You can't wink."

"I can wink," she scoffed, raising her eyebrows at him as they walked further into the museum.

"No, you really can't and I think it was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen."

"You're just teasing me now," she mumbled, stopping in front of a display that showcased segments of different fabrics with altering colours and patterns, she was trying to read the information plaque but she was a little distracted by the man stood beside her.

"Like you haven't been teasing me all morning."

"I have not."

"You totally have."

"Whatever, but I can wink," she sulked as she looked closer at a blue section with a white checked pattern woven in.

"Can't."

She reached out to push him playfully but only ended up straining her ribs, groaning as she straightened back up again and he cast her a smug grin which made her want to hit him even more. "Stop it, why is my pain funny to you?"

"Aww, your pain isn't funny," he sighed, wrapping his arms around her waist, being cautious of her injuries as he leant his chin on her shoulder. "Do you forgive me?"

"Hmm," she nodded, turning her head to look at him, "but I think I might have to start a list of things you need to make up to me."

"How long is this so-called list?"

"It's growing by the minute," she smirked pushing back into him, wiggling her hips a little before limping off to the next display, "are you coming with me or are you just going to stand there?"

"I suppose I'll have to come with you."

Regina simply grinned, shaking her head, "it was your idea to come here in the first place." She had to find a way to keep him interested, she had known that morning that he had been joking when he had suggested they visit the mill museum, that he'd probably already visited the place before. It probably meant more teasing on her part.

They made their way through the exhibitions on the lower floor before head towards the lift, Robin had told her that all the exciting things were upstairs and of course she hadn't been able to resist the joke at such a comment. She found herself being much freer with the way she communicated with him now, it was strange that she could just relax and be herself, not that she wasn't normally herself with him, but she always seemed to have to restrain herself a little.

Her leg and ribs were starting to ache, she hoped that she would be able to sit down more on the next floor, they'd had to walk around quite a bit on the lower floor as it had the majority of the information, seemingly the upper level was the demonstration one. Upstairs there were huge machines along each side of the floor, the ceiling supported by metal columns, "whoa."

"It says there will be a display at twelve which is in ten minutes," Robin quipped as he looked at one of the signs. They moved to stand behind the cordon, Regina perching on the fold-out stool as Robin stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders, fingers moving unconsciously, rubbing into her muscles.

She groaned, leaning back against him as her eyes closed, his hands on her felt so good and she couldn't help but enjoy his touch. Currently, they were the only ones up there, but she was sure that they would be joined by others soon for the demonstration. For now, she was going to enjoy the little massage he was giving her, his finger slipped to her neck, rubbing softly, "gosh, you're good at that."

"Am I now?" he chuckled, leaning down to brush his lips against the curve of skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder making her shudder.

They heard the elevator ping and voices as more people walked into the room, Robin straightened up, not taking his hands from her though as they were joined by a family, three kids hurrying up to the cordon and peering at the machinery, shouting about how cool it was.

"I may have to ask you for a proper massage when we get back later," Regina grinned as she looked over her shoulder at him meeting his eyes. The way he was looking at her made her stomach flip a little, she couldn't remember the last time anyone had looked at her like that, not even Mal. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I have no idea what you mean."

"There you go, teasing me again," she huffed with a raised eyebrow, there was no way that he didn't know what she was talking about, it was quite clear. He was looking at her as though he wanted to fling her over his shoulder and take her home to have his way with her.

"If anyone is teasing here it's you, you're the one talking about massages and don't they usually require less layers?" he asked, his voice low so that the growing number of people in the room couldn't overhear.

She hadn't thought about it in that way but he was right, most time massages only required a towel. Her tongue passed over her lips as she stared at him, her eyes not leaving his and she was about to reply when the person who would be giving them the demonstration of how to work the machines told them that it would be starting. There was not much of a chance that she would be concentrating on the display, or learning about woollen machinery, not when Robin was stood right behind her, his body practically pressed against hers. No, she was completely distracted, her mind on other things.

* * *

Once they finished looking around the museum, they'd headed to the gift shop for Regina to find the accent blanket that she wanted to come for in the first place. She opted for one with a blue and white pattern, whilst also insisting that she bought one for Robin's mother, one that was pastel colours all interlinked and woven together. She just wanted to give it to her as a gift of gratitude for everything she had done, she had been so kind to her and this was just a small token of her appreciation.

Robin had suggested that they go grab some lunch together before they returned back to the house and although she was aching a little, she jumped at the chance. She had never actually been out for a meal with him before, not just the two of them and normally it was just to the Christmas work party and she had always left early anyway. It had been a while since she had gone out for dinner with anyone and she wasn't brave enough to go alone.

The place he chose was a cosy country pub which had a modern but vintage restaurant, they were seated at a table by a window, giving them views across the valley and as soon as the waiter left them to look at the menu Regina felt nervous. There was soft music playing and people at other tables were talking in muffled conversation but she all of a sudden had no words. "So…"

"So."

She bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head, "this is a little weird."

"I suppose so."

"Feels sort of like a date."

"Do you want it to be a date?"

"Do you?"

"I think as first dates go this has been a pretty good one," he quipped, offering her a cheeky smile that had one of her own creeping onto her lips as she looked down at her menu to decide what she wanted to order, though she couldn't really focus on the words, she could tell that Robin was still watching her.

"Well, I think this is the best one I've ever been on."

"Really? And how many dates have you been on, just so I can get an idea of how many people I beat."

Regina sniggered to herself and looked up at him again, she wasn't sure whether she should just tell him the truth or a little white lie. She opted with the former, "actually one."

"One?"

"Yeah. Well, Mal never took me on dates when we were together and I just never seemed to have the time for them with anyone else. Not that anyone has ever asked me out."

"Well I'm glad that I could give you your best date ever," he grinned before looking to his menu, "what do you fancy?"

"I'm thinking lasagna, what about you?"

"Chicken burger, sweet potato fries."

"I've never actually tried sweet potato fries," she quipped. The waitress arrived with the drinks, Regina wasn't drinking because of her pain meds and Robin had joined her in solidarity, them both ordering a lemonade. They gave the waitress their orders and once she'd gone, they looked back to one another.

"Maybe I'll let you try mine."

"Try your what?" Regina giggled, taking a sip of her drink.

"My sweet potato fries."

"I would love to try your sweet potato fries." She felt herself grow more relaxed by the minute, leaning back in her chair as the conversation kept flowing between them.

When the food arrived, Regina felt her stomach rumble at the delicious smell, she licked her lips as she looked at the yummy pasta. She was so excited to eat it but first, she leant in closer to the dish to take in the aroma, humming to herself before sitting up straight and reaching for her knife and fork. When she looked back up at Robin he was staring at her, "what, what is it?"

"You really are a weirdo."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

She rose her eyebrow before kicking him under the table with her good leg, grinning when he nearly dropped his burger in his lap. "And you are an arse," she giggled, cutting a section of her lasagna off and lifting it to her lips, not taking her eyes from his as she took it into her mouth, humming around the food.

"Fuck," Robin murmured under his breath, "are you actually trying to kill me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She hadn't purposely moaned, sure she had meant to keep eye contact, but the moan had simply come from tasting the food. She wasn't trying to get him worked up, but she was quite happy that she had done. Her meal really was amazing and she was impressed with Robin's choice of restaurant, "have you been here before?"

"Yeah, this is the place my family come to any time I'm up here. How's the lasagna? As good as yours?"

"Oh I don't know about that one. I'll have to make it for you sometime when we're back home in London."

"I was actually thinking about that."

"You were?" she put her fork down, feeling nerves bubble up again, his tone had gone from playful to a little more serious. It scared her a little to think about what would happen once they did get back to their everyday lives, it wouldn't just be back to normal, not now. Everything had changed. Her whole life had changed. She knew that sounded cliché but it was true, she had grown so used to being alone over the years, that just having this connection with another human being was like a balm to her soul.

"Yes. You live on one side of London and I live on the other, it's pretty far if you need me in a hurry, like if you fall or something, so I was thinking maybe… hey!"

Whilst he was speaking, she had taken the chance to reach over and snag a couple of his fries, she could tell that they were about to get into some really deep conversation and she didn't know if she was quite ready for it. Sure, she was wearing his engagement ring on her finger, but the subject he was approaching was, in a way, absolutely terrifying. "You said I could try them."

"You're defecting again."

"I am not, I just wanted to try one of your fries."

"Really, so you're not trying to get out of this conversation?"

"No." She totally was.

"Okay, well, how would you feel about me coming to…"

"Oh my god! These fries are delicious."

"Regina!"

"What?! They are, how have I never had these before?" she reached out to grab another only for him to catch her wrist in his hand, laying it down on the table between them and holding her hand.

"Okay, I get that this is making you nervous but…"

"I'm not nervous."

"Why is your good foot bouncing under the table then?"

Regina went still, she hadn't even realised she was doing it until he told her that she was. She took a deep breath and shook her head, "carry on with what you wanted to say."

"I was just going to suggest me staying over at yours for a little while, just so I can make sure you're okay."

"That the only reason, or?"

"It's one of a couple I can think of," he chuckled, taking a bite of his burger as he waited for her answer.

She wasn't entirely sure what her answer was, it was a big decision, not that marrying someone was something she took lightly. The thing was her apartment was hers, her space, her personal place and having someone live there with her was a big thing for her, to have him there constantly. That was a big step and she was going to hate herself for the words that came next, "can I have a little while to think about it?"

"Sure, yeah."

Regina nodded slowly, she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was feeling dejected by her answer and she hadn't meant for that to happen. She was just nervous, but now she felt as though she might have spoilt their date, she really hoped not. "I don't want you to be unhappy with me."

"I'm not unhappy with you, why would I be?"

"You just seem a little… I don't know, disappointed maybe."

"No, it's alright, I know I was trying to make you move too quickly, go too fast. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. The last thing I want to do is rush you into anything or make you do something you don't want to."

"I do want to. It's just… it's a massive thing, moving in together, living in the same space and being with each other twenty-four seven. You know me, I'm not good at human contact."

"You've not been doing so badly this past week," Robin chuckled, picking up a couple of fries.

"It's been a struggle for me to be so social, I'm not used to it."

"I know, I'm proud of you for trying. Grateful even, I think in a way you've shown your true self this week more than you have in the years I've known you."

She ran her tongue over her lips as she reached for her drink, taking a sip of lemonade. He was right, somehow part of her wall had been knocked down and he had taken that opportunity to slip in past her defences, anchoring himself there so she could never get rid of him. "I wanted them to like me."

"They do like you, my mother told me as much."

"She did?"

"Yes, she did."

"That's good to know," she smiled, "I think maybe we could see what it would be like should we live together."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that maybe you could move in, just on a trial basis and we'll take it from there," she shrugged. "Afterall, I'm going to need some help at the minute with my leg being broken, so it wouldn't hurt to have you as my personal slave for a few weeks, catering to my every whim."

"Pretty sure I do most of that all the time anyway."

"Only at work," Regina scoffed, finishing off the last bit of her lasagna.

"Are you saying that you don't call me asking me to do things for you out of work hours?"

"No, that would be unprofessional. I tell you to do them, there's not normally questioning involved."

"God, its things like that which remind me what a bitch you are."

"Don't you forget it."

Robin chuckled as he drank the remaining lemonade from his glass, "do you want to get dessert or shall we just head back now?"

"Maybe we could take some back with us, I am feeling quite tired," she admitted. They'd had a long morning and her body was aching, she may have slightly overdone it, but she wouldn't be telling Robin about that, he wasn't going to find out about the intense throbbing in her ribs, the numbness in her leg or the dull pain in her head, she would just let him think she was tired.

* * *

The drive back to the farm was spent in comfortable silence as they listened to the music, there was the odd short conversation, the couple teasing one another about things as Robin drove. It was mid-afternoon by the time they arrived back at the house, Robin helped Regina out of the car and up a couple of steps to the front door, Meg greeted them as they entered and they were still laughing about something that was said in the car. They didn't even notice the odd quietness as Robin directed them towards the sitting room.

As soon as they were through the door, they were greeted by the sight of Robin's family all sat around staring at them with serious expressions on their faces. Regina had a sinking feeling in her gut and moved a little closer to Robin, something had happened, she didn't know what but it was definitely something. Robin knew too, she could tell by the way he had abruptly stopped in the doorway, she looked up trying to meet his eye but he was too busy looking at his family.

"What's going on?" Robin asked, tightening his hold on her. She felt as though she couldn't breathe, the tension in the room was simply awful.

"I could ask you the same question," Caroline quipped, standing from her chair and stopping in front of them.

Shit, this wasn't good, Regina could just tell, it was going to end badly, she knew it was.

"What are you talking about?" he chuckled shaking his head, "we just went on a date."

"So, there's nothing you want to tell us, nothing you think we might need to know about?"

"No."

Caroline shook her head and held up something in her hand, showing it to them, "you've both been lying to us this entire time."

* * *

**TBC...**


	15. The Truth is Out

**Previously on the Proposal...**

The drive back to the farm was spent in comfortable silence as they listened to the music, there was the odd short conversation, the couple teasing one another about things as Robin drove. It was mid-afternoon by the time they arrived back at the house, Robin helped Regina out of the car and up the couple of steps to the front door, Meg greeted them as they entered and they were still laughing about something that was said in the car. They didn't even notice the odd quietness as Robin directed them towards the sitting room.

As soon as they were through the door, they were greeted by the sight of Robin's family all sat around staring at them with serious expressions on their faces. Regina had a sinking feeling in her gut and moved a little closer to Robin, something had happened, she didn't know what but it was definitely something. Robin did too, she could tell by the way he had abruptly stopped in the doorway, she looked up trying to meet his eye but he was too busy looking at his family.

"What's going on?" Robin asked, tightening his hold on her. She felt as though she couldn't breathe, the tension in the room was simply awful.

"I could ask you the same question," Caroline quipped, standing from her chair and stopping in front of them.

Shit, this wasn't good, Regina could just tell, it was going to end badly, she knew it was.

"What are you talking about?" he chuckled shaking his head, "we just went on a date."

"So, there's nothing you want to tell us, nothing you think we might need to know about?"

"No."

Caroline shook her head and held up something in her hand, showing it to them, "you've both been lying to us this entire time."

* * *

**Now...**

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked, glancing at Regina, she felt her throat tighten with nerves as she stared at the ground, worry welling up in her chest. They knew, they knew they had been lying and they weren't happy about it, this was going to cause major issues, they were going to hate her.

"You know what we're talking about Robin."

"What is that?" he asked, gesturing to the paper.

Regina wondered what it was also, had the immigration office sent them a letter? Did they want them to confirm that their relationship was genuine, that could have been how they found out, it was plausible, hell they were probably going to be required to testify they were together. Regina didn't know why she hadn't considered this as a possibility sooner, she should have known that it wouldn't be so cut and dry as to tell them they were together and be done with it.

"I think you know. I can't believe the two of you have done this…"

"Fine okay! Mum can we just talk about it later? I…"

"It was so thoughtful of you both, I can't believe it," she gushed, her demeanour changing as she smiled, making both Robin and Regina furrow their eyebrows in confusion. "You really shouldn't have though; you know how much we hate surprises."

What? What was she… oh.

"What?" Robin shook his head in bewilderment, looking to Regina in search of an answer, she hadn't told him about what she was up to, "what's going on?"

"Ah, that might have been me actually."

"Was it?" The older woman asked.

"Hmm."

"What was you? What did you do?" Robin questioned, now completely bemused. She'd forgotten to tell him about her plan, it had been a spur of the moment thing, something she had done whilst lying in bed because of her injuries and feeling bored out of her skin.

"Regina booked us a fancy hotel in London for next month! For all of us as well. Isn't that amazing?!"

"You said you wanted to come to visit us in London and I figured why wait until Christmas to do it? I wanted to surprise you all."

"Well you certainly did that, when mum called for us to come over, I thought something had happened," Emma chuckled.

"It was Emma who made us act like it was something serious, she thought it would be funny to worry you a little. Do forgive me?" Caroline smiled before wrapping her arms around Regina, careful of her injuries. "Thank you, dear, you have no idea how much this means to me," she whispered, pulling back with tears in her eyes.

"You're welcome, I just wanted to do something nice for you all since you've been so accepting of me."

"That may be so, but I still have to reimburse you for these rooms!"

"Not a chance," Regina grinned, "you paid for my wedding dress, the least I can do is pay for your rooms when you come to visit."

"Yes, well I wanted to do that for you, and I will be finding a way to get that money back to you somehow."

Regina shook her head, she had enough money and she certainly didn't need to be refunded for those rooms, yes, they might have been a bit pricy but if Robin's family had a good time and were in comfortable accommodations, then what did that matter? She was rich enough for it not to make so much as a dent in her bank account.

"Well I probably won't be paying you back, so thanks a load for the free holiday!" Emma quipped with a smug smile, leaning back in her chair and earning an eye roll from the other members of the family who all took their turn to thank Regina. After they'd all spoken Robin finally added something to the conversation, he had been quiet since she had revealed what she had done and she wasn't sure what he made of it.

"I can't believe you didn't even tell me you were going to do that," he murmured, running his fingers through his hair, still seeming a little in shock, probably because they had both been thinking that they were about to be outed.

"Surprise," she smiled, watching his face to see if he was happy about it, she thought he would be but now she was worried that she had acted to impulsively, maybe he wouldn't have agreed if she had asked him beforehand, though she didn't see why he would do that.

"Definitely that."

"Well, I better get some food started for supper, have you eaten darlings?" Caroline asked.

"We stopped by a pub on the way home so we'll just have a little bit of something later," Robin stated as the rest of his family all burst into action, leaving the two of them alone in the sitting room.

"You're not mad at me for doing that are you? I thought it might be quite nice to have your family come and visit, I know how much your mum wanted to come and see us in London and just booked the rooms. I didn't really give it much thought, I really did it impulsively but I figured we'd all have a good time, maybe we could book a couple of days off work to spend with them, we have enough holiday time we can take if you'd like, if not I…"

"Regina shut up would you," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her lips lightly, "thank you."

"Oh, it wasn't anything really just…"

"It was something to me. You made my family happy, you thought about them and you thought about me."

"I felt bad for keeping you away from them for so long so I felt obligated to…"

"You weren't obligated to do anything, stop trying to make it into something it wasn't. This was you using that big heart of yours, the one you keep so wrapped up from everyone else."

"Shut up," she breathed, looking down at her feet as her cheek warmed under his gaze. No one had ever told her that she had a big heart, she'd had cold heart, no heart and many more negative things said to her, but never that.

"It's true and you know it."

"Come on, help me upstairs please."

As soon as she said the words he reached out and lifted her off the ground in a bridal lift before carrying her up the stairs and to their room. Carefully he placed her down on the bed and moved back to close the door, once it was shut her came to join her on the bed, lying down beside her. "I was worried then that they had somehow found out about your visa."

Regina nodded, staring at the ceiling, she was just as worried as he had been and it had made her think about their situation. What she was about to say might sound stupid but it was probably something they needed to do. "Robin."

"Hmm."

"Just hear me out on this one okay, it's just something to think about."

"What is it?"

She took a deep breath before turning on her side to look at him, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she stared at him, she hoped that he understood where she was coming from and didn't just reject the idea straight away. "I want to tell them the truth, your family I mean."

"Are you serious?" he asked, his eyes widening as he stared at her. "How is that a good idea?"

"Robin, they're probably going to find out at some point anyway, they'll get a letter from the immigration office, we need to tell them before that happens. If we tell them first maybe it won't be so bad."

"What do you suggest we say?" he questioned with a sigh as he played with her fingers, his eyes trained on their joint hands.

"They already know I'm from America, so maybe we just say that my visa was up for renewal and we saw it as the perfect excuse to get married."

"So we're not going to tell them about you blackmailing me then?" Robin teased.

Regina shook her head, she was still embarrassed about that, her actions had been rash and stupid, she hadn't really thought about it, all she knew was that she needed some kind of excuse to stay in the country and Robin was just kind of there. "I think we'll leave that particular bit of information out. Don't you agree?"

"I think that's probably for the best."

Regina chuckled and rolled her eyes at him before running her tongue over her bottom lip, she was nervous about it, she never imagined telling them the truth but the more she thought about it the more necessary it seemed.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I think we have to Robin before it comes back to bite us," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him, a little hesitant at first just in case he wanted to pull away. He didn't, he met her lips with his, his hand parting from hers to move into her hair, playing with it gently as he moved closer.

"I still can't believe I get to kiss you."

"Believe it," she hummed, nuzzling her nose against his, her lips brushing ever so slightly again. "You're a good kisser you know."

"So I've been told."

"Shut up."

"I have."

"Not by me you haven't."

"Pretty sure I told you that you were a good kisser and you told me the same just a day or so ago."

"I don't recall," Regina giggled, her fingers going to the button on her blouse, "would you be able to help me with this. I want to change into something more comfortable."

"Sure, of course," he nodded his hand coming to rest over hers, working to undo it, his eyes focused on hers, not straying to the skin he was revealing. She admired how respectful he was but truly wouldn't mind if he chanced a sneaky peek at her body.

"You can look you know, I'll let you."

"Don't want to be done for misconduct," he quipped with a smirk.

"It's a little late for that," she chuckled, "pretty sure you can look at your fiancé's breasts." Regina took a deep breath as he carefully unbuttoned the shirt, revealing her bra clad chest, his eyes dropped down and she saw him physically shudder.

"God you're stunning."

"You can touch me too if you'd like," she whispered, her fingertip tracing his cheek tenderly. Her rubs were sire and tender from where they had been knocked, but she wouldn't be opposed to having his hands on her breasts, she wanted him to touch her.

He slipped the shirt over her shoulder before his hand stroked back down over her skin, following the lines of her body down to her chest, his fingers running over the swell of her breast. Regina closed her eyes before bringing her hand up to the clasp of her bra, thankful that it was in the front and unclipping it, baring herself before shrugging it off her shoulders. Once it was off, she opened her eyes again to look at him and see his reaction.

He'd frozen in place, his hand resting on her breast as he just looked at her in astonishment. She knew it had been a bold move, but their relationship had been going from strength to strength and she trusted him, she wanted him to touch her. They had been teasing one another all day and it had been a spur of the moment decision from her to let him touch her like this.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"You're just… I… gods your gorgeous," he breathed, his thumb brushing over her nipple tenderly, sending a tingle straight down to her toes making her gasp and arch into his touch.

"That was the reaction I was hoping for," she smirked, moving in to press her lips to his, kissing him deeply as his hand continued to explore her exposed skin, running over it ever so lightly with the tips of his fingers. As he descended to her waist, she couldn't stop the slight wince, his touch just catching her bruises.

"Sorry," Robin shook his head, dropping his hands from her body and moving to sit up on the bed, "you okay?"

"I'm fine, it was nothing. You can carry on if you want, it felt good." Regina whispered nervously, looking up at him, she wished she'd been able to prevent the pained noise from leaving her lips, everything had been going so well.

"I don't want to hurt you, I think we should wait until you're healed up."

"I suppose." She sat and slipped off the bed, gritting her teeth at the sting from her ribs and leg as she moved over to grab a change of clothes, trying to hide her disappointment from him. The rejection that welled up inside was stupid, she knew that, she knew he was only looking out for her, but it also felt as though he wasn't interested and like he didn't want her. She wasn't used to being wanted, if she was at full strength she hoped that things would be different, hell if it wasn't for the accident she didn't know if she would have been able to cope sharing a bed with him.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Shut me out."

"I'm not shutting you out."

"Really?"

"Yes really, I'm just getting a fresh shirt," she huffed, picking up one of his, it was a geeky science shirt that was probably two sizes too big even for him so it drowned her, but she found it so cute. "I have a shirt just like this back home."

"Seriously?" Robin asked, his eyes widening as he looked at her.

She grinned and offered him a nod, it was the truth, Mal had bought it for her as a joke one year and she kind of loved it. It had the periodic table printed all over it and she liked to sleep in it, though she hadn't brought it with her, she wanted to look a little more appealing. In fact, she hadn't realised until that moment that the reason for her sexy nightwear had been to impress Robin, even if she thought they were going to be in separate hotel rooms, she had the idea in her head that maybe she might accidentally bump into him.

"Well, you can keep that one too if you want, that's an old shirt I used to wear to college lectures to impress my lecture, she thought I was a complete idiot," Robin smirked.

"Oh, you were trying to impress your teacher, were you?" She licked her lips, peeling off the pants she had been wearing, leaving her in his shirt and her panties. "Do you have a teacher kink? Or maybe it's a kink for people who have authority over you. Are you a secret submissive?" Regina breathed, climbing back up onto the bed, being mindful of the pot encasing her broken ankle.

"Not sure about that one, maybe I just have a thing for powerful women."

"Oh, I think that must be true."

"I also like women who are total geeks so you totally fit that role as well."

"Hey asshole!" she giggled, swatting him playfully, "I'm not a geek!"

"Really Dr Mills? Then can you tell me how many elements there are in the periodic table?"

"118 of course."

"How many of those are gases at room temp?"

"Eleven."

"How many are solids?"

"79."

"Liquid?"

"Well technically it's only Mercury and Bromine but Caesium, Rubidium, Francium and Gallium are liquid just above room temperature."

"Okay, yeah, you're totally not a geek," he teased.

"If I am a geek, you are too."

"Oh yeah, without a doubt. I'm a geek and proud."

Regina sniggered as she shuffled up the bed to rest against him, her head falling to his shoulder as her eyes fluttered closed. "I think I'm probably a bigger geek than you are."

"Agreed. I don't usually find going to woollen museums all that interesting."

"Shut it you, that museum was very informative, I might take up weaving."

"I'm sure you have room for a loom in your London flat."

"Hmm, probably, could put it in my grand foyer."

"You don't have a grand foyer, do you?"

"Of course," she giggled, "though when I say grand, I mean a little hallway leading into my place. I do have a piano in my sitting room," she quipped seriously, "though it isn't as big as your parents', it serves its purpose."

"I'm surprised I've never actually been to your place the number of errands you send me on."

"I try not to take work home with me and I wouldn't dream of making you come to my house on an errand," she stated. She may give him a lot of work, but her house was her personal space, she wasn't really that comfortable sharing it with anyone. Though that would be about to change on their return to London, he was going to be moving in with her, something she still hadn't quite come to terms with.

"How kind of you," he chuckled.

There was a lull in the conversation as they both watched each other in silence, she knew her breathing was uneven but she couldn't control it, he had a way of affecting her like that. Nerves always got the best of her when he looked at her that way, she wanted to break the quiet, say anything that might fracture the tension. "Have you seen my tattoo yet?" she asked a small smile playing on her lips, she knew he probably hadn't and that he had only been joking when he said he had.

"Where is it?"

"Even if I let you look you probably wouldn't find it."

"Just tell me where it is."

Slowly she pushed her hair back, moving it to the top of her head to reveal the small section of skin behind her ear, showing him the tiny feather imprinted there. The tattoo was no longer than an inch and had been an impulsive decision when she was eighteen, she wanted to know what if felt like but didn't want it in a place where it would be seen and obvious, somewhere she would know about it but no one else would unless she had her hair up and they looked closely.

"You're right, I probably wouldn't have found that," he quipped, touching it gently, "it's pretty."

"Thanks. So, how about you? Any tattoos I don't know about?"

"No actually, I never felt inclined to get one."

"Do you think you ever might?"

"I don't think so, they're not really my thing. I just picture them on my skin when I'm old and wrinkled and think how terrible they might look."

Regina chuckled and shook her head, "well, at least I won't have to look at mine when I'm all wrinkled."

"True. Though I can't quite imagine you getting wrinkled, you have amazing skin."

"I know," she grinned, lying back on the bed and stretching out a little. She sighed softly to herself before speaking up once again, "when do you think we should tell your family about what's going on?"

"I have no idea," he groaned, "maybe never."

"We just agreed."

"I know. I wish we didn't have to though. I'm not sure how understanding they'll be about the whole situation."

"We'll just have to make them understand," she whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder, her forehead pressed against his cheek. "Do you think it will help to tell them that I actually am in love with you?"

"Maybe a little, it will certainly help for me to hear it," Robin grinned, turning his face to steal a little kiss from her.

"Hmm," her eyes fluttered closed, a small smile playing on her lips, "I love you."

"Again?"

"Someone's needy."

"Regina…"

"I love you," she giggled, "I'm not saying it again."

"Aww."

"I've said it three times already."

"I like hearing it," he chuckled making her open her eyes to look at him, he had been watching her the entire time though to be honest that was exactly what she had been expecting.

"Maybe I should just show you instead," Regina shrugged, kissing him again, her hand pressed tenderly to his cheek.

"Knock knock! If you're doing anything dirty stop now because I'm coming in!" a voice called from the doorway. Robin rolled his eyes as they broke the kiss and turned to the door in time to see a dash of blonde hair before the woman flung herself onto the bed between them. "Hey."

"I actually cannot believe you sometimes," Robin scoffed.

"Why were you actually doing something dirty? If you were you should have locked the door," Emma smirked with a shoulder shrug.

"We could have been, but that wouldn't have been any of your business."

"I know, that's why I warned you before coming in."

Robin shook his head and stood from the bed, "so, what are you actually here for?"

"I wanted to talk to my future sister in law. So, if you don't mind Robin."

"What if I did mind?"

"Nothing I can do about it," Emma grinned cheekily.

Reluctantly Robin moved to the door, glancing at Regina before he left the pair to it. The brunette looked at the other woman, not sure what it was she actually wanted to speak to her about.

"Cute shirt."

"It's Robin's," Regina quipped, feeling her cheeks blush as she sat up and pulled at the hem.

"I know, I think he must have worn it every day to college and Uni," Emma chuckled before clearing her throat, her eyes meeting Regina's. "I need to talk to you about something serious and I want you to tell me the truth because I really like you and really want this to be the real deal. I will also know if you lie to me, call it a superpower if you will."

"Okay," Regina nodded, feeling herself tense up a little. Emma didn't seem angry, but Regina had a feeling that she knew somehow, she knew their secret already before they even had the chance to tell them.

"Are you using my brother in order to get a new work visa and stay in this country?"

Even though she had known it was coming, she still wasn't prepared for those words to come, she hadn't readied herself for the impact they would make. "You want me to be one hundred percent honest?"

"Yes, because if you are using him, I'll have to tell him."

"He already knows about the visa situation, I asked him for his help yes. There were already feelings there on my part, ones that I had tried to bury over the years in order to get on with my job. This week I wasn't able to keep them to myself any more and accidentally told him about my feelings."

"You were blackmailing him? Or he willingly went along with it?"

Regina sighed and rose a single eyebrow, "I guess you could say he willingly went along with it once I told him what was at stake for both of us should I be deported and lose my job. Turns out he didn't agree to go along with it just because of the job."

"Oh, I know that, I know just how much he loves you, I just wondered if you were just a good actress, though what you told me makes more sense to be honest. You were quite cold at the start of the week."

"I realise that yes."

"So, you do love him, truly love him?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good, I'm glad, because I would hate to have my own brother arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal."

"Wait a minute, how did you actually find out about this?"

"I'm a private investigator, thought I'd give you a little background check, just to make sure that my brother wasn't getting himself involved with a psychopath. I've known a little while but after the accident, I wanted to make sure you were well enough to talk properly about it."

"We were going to tell you all later, we felt it was something you all deserved to know," Regina whispered, she was nervous, even though it seemed Emma was understanding, she hoped that the trust between them wasn't ruined now. "You don't hate me, do you?"

"No I don't hate you," Emma shook her head, "I'm just glad you're not taking advantage of Robin, he's been through a lot of shit with past girlfriends."

"I know what Marian did."

"Yeah, she's a real bitch," she huffed. "So, you guys are going to tell everyone else tonight?"

"I think so."

"Right, just make sure that they know that your feelings for him are genuine, especially grandpa. He seems to like you but he doesn't trust that easily, he knows how hurt some of us have been in the past by people."

"I really do love him you know," Regina breathed, hoping that Emma could hear the sincerity in her voice.

"I know, I heard the two of your speaking from behind the door," she grinned, moving to stand from the bed, "well, I'll leave you to it, but take it from me, tell them sooner rather than later."

"We will, thanks Emma," she nodded, watching as the other woman left the room. Almost as soon as she was gone Robin was back, slipping in through the door before it even had time to close behind her.

"You okay? What was that about?" he asked, taking his place on the bed back as he looked at Regina in concern, his hand reaching out to touch hers.

"Emma knows."

"She does?"

"Hmm."

"Right."

"We have to tell everyone the truth, tonight."


End file.
